Dark Future
by D.R. the Hedgehog
Summary: Arc 2: Exiled from Robotnik Land, the rebels encounter various trials in dangerous and extreme weathered Korubia desert.
1. Enter Shadow

Dark Future

Chapter 1: Enter Shadow

The view shows a figure in a prison cell wearing a cloak, a hood over its head so you couldn't see the face.

These are the worst of times that no one would rather think about. Dr. Eggman has finally won and created Robotnik Land over Station Square, the once beautiful and thriving city. Sonic had fallen to the likes of Eggman's robot, Metal Sonic. Creating a copy of his mortal enemy? Couldn't he make anything stronger? How pathetic. Tails isn't dead but he is a personal servant to the fat ass himself, poor fox. I wish someone could put an end to this but a rebellious attitude wasn't accepted. As soon as you get all high and mighty you've dug your grave. No heroes are tolerated here, no one to come to your rescue, just you and hundreds of robots, next you're laying lifeless in the pool of your own blood. Shot, stabbed, bludgeoned, it doesn't matter how it happens; it is their way of keeping everyone in check. It's a damn shame that I've gone through this for 10 years, from about the day it started until now! This all started when I was a young teen; I'm not even sure of my true age. Although I couldn't avoid being captured myself, I do put some blame on everyone's reliance on Sonic and Tails, they're supposed to be heroes after all. It can't be helped on dwelling on this won't solve a damn thing. Right now it's rest time so no guards are checking on anybody but in the morning, everyone will be worked to death again with no paycheck and scarce amounts of food. This is no way to live and I've already come to terms with the possibility that I might die. Tomorrow, I'll tell whoever I can about my plan and then a rebellion will begin...

Thunder crackles over a large, high-tech city. The view zooms in on people working on a machine while robots crack at them with whips, one of them is Shadow, worker #718. The workers are wearing a variety of clothing but the overall their clothing looks similar to that of prison jumpsuit; the small ID number tags do little to break the illusion that this is not a prison.

"Move it!" shouts a robot as it whips near Shadow's head.

"Ow! How is anyone supposed to get some work done around here if you keep cracking those whips? It's hard on the ears." Shadow growls as he places a long metal piece into a slot of a machine. A loud-speaker cuts on and you hear Eggman's theme play.

"Robotnik Radio, playing Eggman music 24/7" announces the loud-speaker as it continues playing his theme. Shadow decided to mock it by singing stupidly in a high voice.

"I am the enemy, I will succeed, my mission, yeah, I must-" WHACK! "OUCH!" Shadow is interrupted by the crack of the whip on his back. "Alright, I'm working, I'm working! Hmph, no sense of humor!" Just then an alarm rings.

"10 minute break time!" shouts the chief supervisor robot. Everyone gets into a crowded food hall with rows of tables. Shadow sits at the edge of the table and a hooded figure comes over and sits in front of him.

"Psst!" the figure hisses, trying to get his attention. Shadow slowly gazes at the figure.

"Who are you?" Shadow asks abstractedly as he eat from his bowl of chow.

"Nevermind that, I have a plan the will get us out of here and I need you to help!"

"We can't get out of here, we'll get shot if we tried!"

"I know but my plan will pull through and we'll be home free! All you have to do is trust me, please!" The black hedgehog sits in thought for a moment, he always wondered how it would be to lead a different life instead of his slave-like style of life. It had always been in him for reasons unknown to him.

"Hmm, sure, what the hell? I'll help but if you screw me over then-" The figure interrupts.

"Then you can kill me!"

"Alright, I'm with you then!"

"We'll start at rest time" The figure gets up and dashes away almost as quickly as it appeared.

_"I'm still not sure about this but I'm gonna have to trust her for now..."_

Rest Time, 12:00 A.M.

Shadow is sitting in his cell while a guard walks around. A door is heard opening.

"We have an unknown wanderer dashing about. It's been a long time since we've had one. I'm hoping to have a bit of fun!" says a voice to the guard. "That person ran in this general area, did you see them?"

"No foreign presence seen in this area!" announces the guard.

"How boring. Report any suspicious activity then." The door closes and everything is silent. A ring rolls into Shadow's cell and stops in front of him. Shadow looks up to see the figure in the cell across from him.

"When the guard gets near your cell, push him over to me and I'll take care of the rest!" The figure announces fairly loudly. Shadow nods and footstep steps approach their direction. "It's coming here, get ready!" The guard goes over to her cell.

"Shut up and don't speak!" shouts the guard.

_"I'm not the one to judge but what he said seemed a little redundant."_ thought Shadow to himself. The guard backs up and Shadow spots the opening! He skates over to the bars and shoves the guard robot to the figure who grabs it and makes its head combust somehow. She opens her cell and then releases Shadow. "Finally!" The figure opens the door and runs through, Shadow follows while wondering how she opened both cells and how she didn't wake the other prisoners in the process. They reach a large freight elevator. The figure presses some buttons and the elevator begins to move.

"OK, this is where we really gotta be careful, Fatman programmed these tin cans to be aggressive!" say the figure. "I have a safe place that we can hide and think of a plan"

"Whatever!" shouts Shadow. "Listen, if we get caught, I'm blaming it all on you!"

"Stop being so hot-headed and think! It's midnight so no one will notice that we're gone until morning when we have to work, that'll give us enough time to find a way out of this dump!"

"If we can find a way!" The elevator stops. "IF we can find a way..." Shadow and the figure walk on an empty sidewalk and suddenly a number of search helicopters are seen in the distance. Shadow feared the worst. "See! Now they are gonna catch us and whip us!" The figure is now angry.

"ARE YOU GONNA GIVE UP THAT EASILY? They haven't even spotted us yet!" The figure grabs Shadow's hand. "Just concentrate on keeping up with me!" The figure ran faster than Shadow expected leaving fire marks where she ran. Shadow tries hard to keep up.

"Heeeeey! Slow down, you're going too faaast!" They are running from a passing helicopter's searchlight and then the figure leaps into an alley and the helicopter passes by. Shadow tries hard to catch his breath. "I'm fast but...that didn't seem ordinary!"

"Are you gonna follow me or not!" Metallic footsteps are heard. "Shut up or they'll hear us!" Shadow is getting angry and anxious.

"I'm going on my own! You seem a little unhinged." Shadow turns and walks off to the other side of the alley.

"Fine, you'll be sorry!" Shadow arrives at a street lined up with parked police cars.

"Maybe I'll find my own way out if I hijack one of these!" Shadow walks into their direction but to his surprise, they are actually robots!

"Prisoner out of cell! Violation code: #2361, suspect must be exterminated!" announces one of the cars.

"Oh crap!" cries Shadow as the robots front bumpers opened up to reveal machine guns, the other cars followed. Shadow hastily skated down the street as the cars fire continuously at him, every shot missing him more closer than the last. "Oh man! Why didn't I just stay in my cell?" Shadow crosses a bridge then hears some explosions and the firing stopped. Shadow turns around to see the figure surprisingly shooting fireballs out of its hands, she dodges the machine guns with ninja-like agility while blasting them and causing them to explode. Shadow watches in awe. The figure takes out the last robot with ease and looks at Shadow.

"Hey, I can barely see you Mr. Black, it's night time! Hahaha!" says the figure, rolling with laughter.

"Thanks for saving me but I did have a plan ya know." Shadow coyly replies.

"To get killed isn't exactly the best plan I've heard of. You don't even know this place well!"

"Yeah, well, I'll get used to it!"

"Damn, why do you need to be so stuck-up and stubborn? You're gonna need me if you want to survive around here, Mr. Black." Shadow is already on his way. "HEY! Grrr...hmph!" The girl goes into another direction.

"Who do she think she is?" Shadow feels a heavy shock wave and looks around. "Now what?" A large mechanical over-sized turtle comes from around the corner and looks down at Shadow. Shadow looks up at it; it's about 10 times the size of him. "Not-good-at-all!"

"What are you doing out of cell at this time?" asks the robot.

"Um... er... I... got lost?" The robot searches within its database and matches a picture of Shadow.

"Information not found! Rebel extermination in progress!"

"Not again..." Two large missiles came out of it's shell and aims directly at the black hedgehog. "!" A ball of fire comes and blows up the missiles causing a huge explosion that illuminates the area. Shadow slowly turns around to spot the figure once again.

"Saving your life has become a part-time job, Mr. Black!" she says with a smirk. Shadow slowly backs away from her as she approaches.

"What... who are you?"

"I believe that I never introduce myself I am..." The figure slowly pulls her hood off to reveal an light red female hedgehog with eyes brown as bronze which seemed to gleam in the street light. "Flare. Flare the Hedgehog. Nice to meet you." Shadow looks astounded at her.

"S-so you were using those fire attacks?"

"You got it. That's my specialty!"

"Now I've seen everything..."

"Thanks to you, we attracted some of Eggman's robots so we'll have to esc-" Before Flare can finish her sentence. multitudes of robots swarm the area and surround them.

"It's her fault!" shouts Shadow, pointing at Flare.

"I can get us out of this!" Flare grabs onto Shadow.

"Hey! What are you-"

"CHAOS TELEPORT!" Flare and Shadow vanished in a flash right before all the robots fire at them.


	2. The Rebellion Begins

Chapter 2: The Rebellion Begins

They arrive in a sewer.

"Ack! What the hell? How'd you do that? Where the hell are we!" shouts Shadow in astonishment as he backs away. "Out of every place in the world you chose THIS?" Flare lets out an angry grunt.

"This is why I HATE SHORT-TEMPERED PEOPLE! Look, if you didn't want to do this in the first place then you shouldn't have came!" she growls. Shadow shrugs.

"I guess I have no choice but to trust you, for now..." They walk for a while until they come across a strangely colored wall. Shadow is confused. "...what is this? A colorful wall? How conspicious."

"You ask too many questions! It isn't always this colorful anyway." Flare presses on certain colors. The door opens wide and revealed a regular door and behind it a room with a large round table which looks very expensive. There is a man and a woman wearing clean black suits and shades over their heads.

"What the hell?"

"Welcome to The Corporation!" Greets the man as he walks over to them. "Is he...?"

"Yeah, well, more or less." Flare replies. Shadow continued to look puzzled. "Besides, it's hard working with him!"

"What's this all about? This ain't a corporation or a company, you're all lunatics..." Shadow protests.

"These two here were FBI agents before Eggman took over, but knowing that something bad will happen, they regrouped to form 'The Corporation' said Flare. "Or so was planned…"

"This is crazy! I'm leaving!" BANG! Before Shadow attempts to leave, a gun shot passes him. He turns around and Flare is seen aiming a black Magnum at him.

"You can't leave, knowing about us!"

"W-why not!"

"You'll compromise us! You also said you wanted to help!"

"Listen, I am NOT getting involved in any stupid crap that's gonna get me killed, now if you'll excuse me then I'm going back to my cell." Shadow turns around and starts walking. Flare angrily aims the gun at the back of his head but the man stops her.

"Let him go Flare, it's the path he chooses, we can't stop him from his decision..." he says and gives a quick wink. Flare catches on and puts withdraws her weapon.

"Right, let's move on to the next person." says Flare quietly as she looks sadly at Shadow. "I really had high hopes for this one too but I guess the fear of Robotnik has turned everyone into spineless cowards!" Shadow had just stops at the doorway.

"Don't worry, someone will help some day. Until then we just need someone who's brave and has a heart."

"Yeah but we've been trying for years but everyone has turned back or ran, we'll never be able to restore life to the way it was!" Flare cries, slightly disgusted.

"Don't lose hope, we'll eventually find more..." Shadow starts thinking.

_"Did they mean mean me when they said a spineless coward? But, I'm not even scared of Eggman, I simply don't want to die..."_ he thinks. _"What did she mean by 'having high hopes' for me?"_ Shadow stands in thought for a while, then angry at himself he balls his fist._ "Did all I do was ADD on to their problem? STUPID ME! No more being afraid of big red, I'm going to help these guys out!"_ With new-found courage, Shadow turns back and looks at them all. "I'll... I'll help you out!" Everyone looks up in surprise.

"Really?" Flare asks, trying to hide her excitement. Shadow nods.

"On one condition..."

"Name it." said the woman.

"We get out of this alive!" They all give a confident nod. "Where do we start?"

"First, we'll have to take out the city's power and that'll lower Eggman's energy source and hopefully pave way for more of our operations! Unfortunately, navigating around this city is gonna be tough so..." She tosses Shadow and Flare a pair of green shades.

"What the hell is this for? It's night time!"

"These are night vision shades, we'll be able to see in the dark."

"Oh, that's actually pretty cool." says Shadow with a smile as he puts on the shade but immediately takes them off due to the brightness of the room.

"Do you have any special attacks?" asks the man.

"What are those?"

"Don't worry about it." The man sets out a huge map over the fancy table. "The power plant is believed to be Eggman's main source but it's a mile or two from here and walking with be too treacherous so we'll use this jeep we created from scrapped parts the Eggman didn't need any more! I was a mechanic at one point so making it wasn't too big a problem." He presses a remote and the far wall opens to reveal a garage with a black fancy jeep, upon closer look it seems as if it was inexpertly put together.

"Why is everything so fancy looking but we're the poor ones?"

"We had connections in the past!" says the woman. "Oh and you'll need this!" She tossed Shadow a black Magnum just like Flare's. "There is no doubt that we'll encounter robots."

"I've never used a piece before."

"You'll learn. This weapon pierces metal easily so you're in luck."

"When we get to the plant, we'll have to split up." said the man. "That's all, let's go! Oh, by the way, what's your name?"

"Shadow, Shadow the Hedgehog." They all look at each other in shock for a brief moment.

"We're Tommy and Nancy, and of course you met Flare already but call us T and N when we're outside." Shadow shrugs in acknowledgement.

They get into the jeep and drove into a ramp that leads into the city streets. A strange fly is on a nearby roof top watching as they drive pass... the view zooms in on its eyes to reveal an inner camera.

The view then switches to a mysterious figure in a big room while watching the camera.

"It's about time those rats crawled from their hole. Ha ha ha! I'll give them credit for trying to oppose me! I'll send some of Dark Red's creations their way as a way of redeeming him for losing track of a rebel earlier." muses the figure as he presses some buttons. "Fly-cam! Follow them. I want to have at least a little bit of entertainment before they die!" The little fly follows the jeep.


	3. The Assault

Chapter 3: The Assault

_"Here we go. No turning back now..."_ Shadow thought to himself as the vehicle speeds down an empty street. SCREEECH! The jeep screeches to a stop. "What is it now!"

"Road block!" grunts T as he cocks his pistol. The street is blocked by 3 mechanical raptors. BANG! BANG! BANG! ZZT! He shoots one 3 times in the stomach causing it to spark out. Flare shoots the other one twice and it goes down. The 3rd raptor jumped onto a roof top and began firing machine guns but lucky for them, it's a lousy shooter. N uses the time to fire one shot in it's mouth making it fall off the roof and BOOM! it explodes upon landing.

"That's the way to bring those down, Shadow!" exclaims N. "Next time, you'll have to shoot." Shadow aims the gun.

"I'm ready!" he says. The jeep begins moving once again. After a while, more raptors showed up, trying to shoot them while running. This time Shadow, without hesitating, fires two shots into one of its heads and the head explodes. Flare spews lava in front of the rest snaring them and melting them beyond the point of repair. "Yuck..." More appear on the roof but this time they started launching missiles which T manages to maneuver the jeep around.

"Hurry, take them out or we're screwed!" T shouts over the explosion noise. BANG! BANG! BANG! Shadow fires 3 more bullets causing one of them to fall off the roof and explode upon impact. N fires two rounds at each of them back and Flare finishes them with one shot each. It wasn't too long after that when bullets start pelting through the front glass and hits N the shoulder. She returns fire at the ones in front, destroying them.

"Damn these bastards!" she cries as she places a bandage over her wound.

"How far is the plant?" Flare asks.

"We're almost there!" cries T. "Just a few more minutes!" Robot police cars approach from behind while firing machine guns. "Shoot, they're right behind us!" Shadow fires one shot then his gun click.

"Outta ammo!" shouts Shadow.

"Let me take over the back!" shouts N. She and Shadow switch places but in the process, Shadow gets shot in the leg.

"Argh!" BANG-BANG-BANG-BOOM! All you hear are gunshots and explosions from the rear of the vehicle.

"T, floor it, there's motor baddies after us!" shouts Flare.

"Motor baddies?"

"Motorcycles that act on their own."

"There are bandages in the glove comparment, Shadow!" says T as he pushes the gas really hard. "There should be ammo there too!" Shadow put on the bandages but didn't know where to put the bullets into.

"Can someone help me with this?" Shadow asked with a sweat drop. Everyone almost face faults.

"Well, you did say you never use a piece before. Open the cylinder part and slide the bullets in!" shouts Flare as she reloaded her gun. Shadow does exactly as instructed and wanted to confirm if he got it in correctly so he pulled the trigger and BANG! CLINK! shoots a hole through the window breaking it entirely. It catches T off guard and he loses control of the jeep. SCREECH!

"WHOAAAAAAA!" Everyone screams and then the jeep spun around and stopped.

"Oops! Guess it's in right." says Shadow with a sheepish smile.

"Next time, warn someone!" says T with a face-palm. A raptor lands on the front and slashes T across the face knocking him out. Shadow quickly aim his Magnum.

"NO SHADOW!" shouts Flare. BANG-BOOM! It was too late, Shadow shot the robot and the explosion knocks him and T out of the jeep and into the street, leaving both of them vulnerable to attacks. "Idiot! What were you thinking!" Shadow weakly stands up.

"Hey I forgot, calm down!" Shadow responds angrily. A couple of shots passed him; he ducks, turns around and returns fire at more of the raptors until he was out of ammo.

"Protect T, we have you covered!" exclaims N. He runs while ducking and checks T's pulse.

"He's daze but he'll be fine!"

"Someone's gotta drive!" cries Flare. Suddenly a whole dozen of motor baddies appeared. "Damn! I didn't think I'd have to use this this early." Flare stands up and aims her gun in the enemies' direction. Black and blue specs of energy began to gather in the barrel. Shadow lifts up T and places him in the driver's seat again. "Everyone, brace yourselves, BLACK MAGNUM BEAM ATTACK!" A huge black and purple (Yes purple is not a typo, energy entered as blue and came out as purple.) beam fires from her weapon and eliminates all of them out in a single shot, jolting the jeep in the process. Flare shakily sits down in her chair and faces forward.

"You drive... Shadow..." T says as he begins to recover.

"Me? I don't know how to drive and I don't know where we're going." protests Shadow. N placed some bandages over T's face wounds.

"We'll you're gonna have to." said Flare. "Obviously me and N have better reflexes for taking on incoming enemies." Shadow moves T to the passenger side and then sits in the driver's seat.

"And you think I won't crash this thing?"

"We'll take the chance."

"Here goes nothing!" Shadow floors it, sloppily driving down a big street.

"Use one hand to shoot and the other to drive." N says while reloading. Helicopters start appearing in the front. BANG-BANG! Shadow fires at it but his coordination is slightly off so some shots missed. However, the shots that landed were ineffective. The helicopter fires a missile which Shadow crookedly steers pass but then it turns around and gives chase. Flare throws a fireball at the helicopter but it just catches on fire, seemingly not effecting the helicopter. BOOMboomboom! The missile Shadow drove pass returns and homes into the fire and the helicopters goes down in a series of chained explosions.

"Damn it! A dead end!"

"Turn through this alley!" Shadow sloppily turns into the alley while crashing through boxes and smashes the left side of the bumper on a dumpster but manges to keep driving. He makes a right turn and continues their path. They arrive at a long bridge then a large bomb is dropped, cutting their path. Thump! SCREECH! Shadow slams the brakes and the jeep skids for a bit before coming to a complete halt.

"What the f-" BOOM! Shadow is cut off by the loud and huge explosion of the bomb and the bridge is destroyed in the center. "Oh god!"

"Who set that bomb up if no one is around?" asks Flare as she looks around. "I'm checking around." She loads her Magnum and walks around.

"We're...so close!" T mumbles.

"Ahhh!" Flare lands on the jeep with electricity running through her. Everyone looks up. A large robotic Pterodactyl. It lands with such force that the ground underneath it cracks and the shock wave shakes the jeep. A screen on its stomach appears and the image of a man in the shadows sitting at a desk is seen.

"It helps to also look up when searching around, right Flare?" asks the figure. "You just couldn't help but to lead others into a bad future. You're a bad influence!" The figure is seen looking at the rest of them. "You all better return to your cells or you'll suffer the same fate as Flare, especially you, Shadow, you don't even what to know what I have in store for you if you act up!" Shadow stands stunned for a moment, baffled on how this person knows his name. "Tommy, I know all about it, your plan won't work. It's no use, GIVE UP!" BANG! BOOM! zZt! Zztzzt! A shot is heard and the screen is given a new hole and shorts out. The view turns around and T is seen lowering his pistol.

"Don't... ever... tell me to give up." he growls. The robot opens its mouth and the figures voice is heard again over a speaker installed inside the robot.

"Perhaps you are forgetting that I'm not like what I was before I took over this country, I always have back ups! I'll give you a taste of what's to come! Pterobot, destroy them all!" The robot lets out a loud battle screech and flies toward them fast.


	4. Eggman's Punishment

Chapter 4: Eggman's Punishment

BANG! Pterobot kicks the jeep over, knocking everyone out and soars high into the air. Shadow rolls to a stand and fires a few rounds at the suspiciously glowing crystal-like blue tail behind it. Naturally most of the shots missed but one lands causing a current of electricity to run through it as it dives towards him.

"Watch out!" shouts N as she pushes Shadow, who is preoccupied with attempting to reloading, out of the way. BANG! The robot's beak gets stuck into the ground though the force of the attack was enough to shake the ground. The tail glows and flashes red while the mechanical beast struggles to free itself. Everyone except Flare and T who are still dazed from falling over, looks at it in confusion. Shadow runs for the ammo that fell out of the jeep and reloads his magnum quite quickly despite his earlier trouble. The robot manages to free it beak and goes airborne again but this time it flies so high that no shots can reach it. The night sky made it hard to see but the glowing tail stood as a partial giveaway.

"HAHAHA! See if you can survive THIS!" shouts Eggman's voice from the robot. Smoke comes from all directions of the robot and come downward towards them. "BOMBS AWAY!" Boomboomboom! Shadow and N didn't have enough time to react when several bombs explode upon landing on the ground and flings them backwards and they both land face-first simultaneously.

_"Ok, that really, really hurt... It would be so easy to just keel over right now!"_ thought Shadow to himself as he struggles to regain his strength. _"But I WON'T give up! I have no choice, now that Eggman knows who I am, I have to continue!"_ Shadow slowly stands up but N is still down and too weak to move. "L-Leave everything to me!"

"You're tougher than I thought, Shadow! I didn't think you had what it takes!" The view switches to the robot and the feet of it transforms to a rocket shape. "Pterobot, take him down in down in style!" WHOOSH! With a roar, the rockets boost and the Pterobot is launching itself towards Shadow. Shadow realizes what was happening and begins to run toward the gap in the bridge. He looks up and the robot is still over head. He makes a leap over the gap just in time to avoid the sharp beak of the robot and lands on the other side. "Hm! Smart move!" The robot struggles yet again to free its beak and its tail glows red again, this time Shadow takes careful aim and shoots the tail several times so that it cracks a little. The robot quickly frees its head and returns its legs to normal. "Nooo way, I can't believe this!" Shadow is a bit annoyed since he couldn't damage it enough to destroy it. The robot jumps over to Shadow's side and begins trying to peck him. It succeeds on the last try and knocks him over. Shadow lets out a cry in pain and tries to get up but the robot pecks him again and again, shedding more blood and pecking a different spot every time he tries to block the next peck. THUD! THUD! THUD! Next, the robot picks up Shadow using its feet and slams him repeatedly against the ground. Shadow is now getting more angry than scared.

"Grr...LET GOOOO!" A green light surrounds Shadow and the robots legs break and the robot flaps its wings wildly and uncontrollably while the tail glows rapidly. Shadow safely lands but is confused at what happened to him. "Huh? What...did I just...do?"

"Argh! Damn that chaos power!"

"No time to waste!" BANG BANG BANG BANG! Shadow fires four shots, two of which land and creates a long crack line in half of the tail. The robot gains control of itself.

"HURRY, DESTROY THAT HEDGEHOG BEFORE HE DOES IT AGAIN!" The robot's beak spins drill-like and it begins trying to stab Shadow while hovering with its wings. Shadow falls over and is hanging by his heel over the bridge. He's hanging over the edge of the gap and under the gap is a current of rushing water.

"Ah! If I fall then I'm done for, I can't swim!"

"It was fun while it lasted but unfortunately it's over for you, Shadow..." A humming sound is heard. "Nice knowing ya!" The drill comes closer but then the robot is interrupted by a "Hey!" and looks up. The jeep is seen flying over the bridge and pushes the robot back. A loud screech from the robot is heard. Shadow uses his weight and pulls himself back up.

"Tommy! I mean, T!" The robot is trying to push the jeep off of it but no luck. When the tail glowed red, T steps on it causing it to shatter. T jumps back and watches the robot short out a couple of times before it stops moving.

"Lucky for you, I was watching the whole thing. You really held your own." says T as he reloads.

"What? You were watching and didn't even bother to help!"

"Hey relax, if I were helping then you would've really had a watery grave especially the way it was slamming you against the ground. I was waiting until you weakened it so I can attack, otherwise if we all attacked at once then it would've wiped the floor with us." Shadow grits his teeth, more angrier than before. "I guess you're not buying it oh well, build a bridge and get over it. Hahaha! I made a funny joke. Bridge? Get over it?"

"Where are the others?"

"Over there." T points to the jeep and the others were waiting. "I'll drive now but next time, don't shoot through the glass." Shadow and T walked towards the jeep.

"WATCH OUT!" shouts Flare. They turned around too late and T gets rammed by the robot. The robot flies around in a circle over T while exploding.

"Look out! It's up to something!" shouts N.

"DIE!" shouts Eggman from the robot. The robot dives straight for T and Shadow skates really fast, racing the robot and then grabs T and jumps out of the way. BOOOM! The robot lands and causes a huge shock wave explosion and leaves a big flaming fireball in the area. Everyone lets out a sigh of relief.

"Close call." said Flare.

"Now who has good reflexes?" Shadow asks Flare with a confident grin.

"I'll give you your due respect."

"Thanks Shadow, at first I thought you were a real jackass ("Hey!" shouts Shadow) but now I see that you also think about others just like you think of yourself, you could've died trying to save me both times but you did it anyway! You're really not too bad." T said with a grin.

"Thanks, it was the least I can do!" says Shadow. "Let's go, I'm feeling more motivated than I was earlier." They get into the jeep and continue their journey.


	5. A Moment of Intensity

Chapter 5: A Moment of Intensity

At the power plant, 5:52 A.M.

It is an enormous facility with a large satellite top. T stops and everyone stock up on ammo and hop out the vehicle. They lean against the wall near the door with weapons drawn.

"Ok everyone, this building houses the main controls connecting to the other facilities across the city. There are two entrances into this plant, the obvious front door and an underground passage. Both ways lead to separate elevators, we're going to the rooftop and destroy the dish! That should deal a nice blow to all their wireless communications and shut down most if not all of the city's power." announces T. "Given our ordeal with Eggman back there we only have a small amount of time to do this so let's not concern ourselves with whether or not this plant is secured or if back-up is on its way. Shadow and Flare, take the front, me and agent N will go underground."

"What if we find something?" Flare asks. N hand her a walkie talkie. "Understood."

"Hey! Are we supposed meet up somewhere or something!" Shadow asks. Everyone looks annoyed at him.

"The rooftop, idiot."

"Oh! Right."

"Ready everyone?" N asks. Everyone tenses up and focuses. "Go!" T and N dashed around the building and Shadow and Flare rush in through the front. The automatic doors slid open but no one or anything is inside. Shadow and Flare point there guns everywhere but nothing is there, only a large pool in the middle and a large elevator to the left of it and a large staircase to the right.

"It's far too quiet. The automatic doors give me the eerie feeling that we're invited in..." says Flare. They cautiously make their way to the elevator and before Flare pressed the open button, the lights shut off. "Damn! I knew it was too easy". Flare makes a fireball in her hand to light up the area and then tosses it over the pool and makes it hover and the whole area is dim but near the pool are two heavily armored motorcycles, one is red; the other is black.

"Cool!" exclaims Shadow. Suddenly, the lights on both of the bikes cut on and began moving fast towards them. "Not cool!" Shadow and Flare jump in different directions and begin running around the pool. The red one chases after Flare; the black one, Shadow. Shadow fires at his pursuer but the bullets repelled off the armour. "Damn this thing is tough!" Shadow turns around and run towards the motorcycle and drop kicks it causing it to spin out of control and fall into the pool and a great deal of electricity followed. Shadow hopped madly on the foot he used. "Ouch ouch ouch! Super heroes make it look so easy!"

"Move!" Shadow realizes that Flare is coming towards him with the bike behind her and rolls out of the way but the bike managed to accidentally ram his foot and slip into the pool and blows up in an enormous fireball because of the electrified water caused by the other bike. Shadow is now rolling while holding his ankle and screaming.

"AAARGH! You should've warned me sooner!"

"I didn't know you were in the way until I realized the bullets repel off of heavy armour." Flare says with a sweat drop. Shadow gets to his feet and limps towards the elevator.

"Damn that hurts, let's go and forget about it" They get in the elevator and press for the top floor. As the elevator goes up Shadow put two bullets into his gun and waits. The elevator stops with a thump between floors 47 and 48. "What now!:"

"I guess even fancy buildings like this have their share of malfunctioning problems." The top of the elevator tears off to reveal Pterobot it is black, half melted with parts hanging, and weak but the beak is unharmed. "Uh...!"

"You just don't know when to quit, do you!" Shadow fires 3 shots into it's chest causing it to shake wildly with electricity. It tried to keep its balance but nearly falls. It regains its balance and tries to peck Shadow who ducks and fires 2 more shots. This time the robot explodes twice and falls down the elevator chute followed by a faint bang. Shadow glares at Flare who is still in awe. "WHY WEREN'T YOU HELPING!" Flare didn't answer. "So much for good reflexes". Shadow presses0 the button but the controls shortened out.

"We'll have to use the support cables, give me a boost"

"Why should I give you a boost when you wouldn't even assist me!"

"It caught me off guard, OK? Sheesh!" Shadow bends down and Flare hops off his back; she rips one of the wires and holds it towards Shadow. Shadow grabs onto it and Flare lifts him up. Flare set on of the cables on fire.

"Hey hey hey! Are trying you to kill us!"

"Man, you're such a pain. You'll see in a sec." The fire cuts through the rope and sends Flare and Shadow reeling upwards.

"AAAAHHH!" Flare manages to grab onto the last door and open it quickly before Shadow's weight pull her down. Shadow lets out a sigh of relief.

"You really need to work on your trust, Shadow..." says a mysterious voice from the shadows behind a desk in the room they entered. They've arrived in an office room. Flare aims her gun at it, Shadow follow does also.

"Dr. Eggman!" says Flare coldly. The figure gets up and steps into the light to reveal a fat bald man with shades, thick brown mustache, a red scientist coat and black pants.

"Ho ho ho! Didn't expect to see me here?" he asks. "Well, obviously, I expected to see you here." This time Shadow is the one left speechless. Bang! Bang! Bang! Flare loses control of her temper and fires all of her bullets at Eggman but all of them get repelled in different directions.

"What...?"

"This little gadget here protects me from all sorts of projectiles" says the evil doctor as he pats what looks like a tablet. BANG! BANG! BANG! Angrily, Shadow tries to fire at him too but gets the same result. "My, aren't your tempers high this morning? I understand I tried to kill you all earlier but that's no reason to be so grumpy."

"Die, you bastard!" Flare creates a lava ball and throws it at Eggman and all of a sudden, and ice ball shoots from the shadows and freezes the fireball causing it to drop right in front of Eggman's feet. "Huh!"

"What the hell?" cries Shadow. Another figure similar to Flare but is a male hedgehog and has dark red fur and crimson red eyes wearing a strange armour steps into view. Flare could sense high levels of energy coming from him. This man is clearly something dangerous.

"Ha ha ha! Meet your true self, Flare, this is Dark Red the Hedgehog or as I call him, D.R.!" announces Eggman. "Now, I can just have him slaughter the both of you but that wouldn't be as fun!" D.R. takes out a golden chaos emerald. Flare and Shadow tense up. "However' I'd rather not have that right this moment. We've only come to retrieve something vital. You will be dealt with in a manner I see fitting to you... rebels. For now, I have important things to attend to. You can live a little longer if only for the sake of my entertainment!"

"Chaos Teleport!" shouts D.R.. In response, his emerald glows and both him and Eggman vanish in a bright flash. Flare and Shadow stare at the spot for a moment, both too shocked to move. Their walkie-talkie activated.

"Flare, Flare, this is N, can you hear me!" Flare shakily picks up the walkie talkie.

"Y-yeah... I-I-I'm here!" she stutters.

"We're on the roof, we spotted Eggman in this area earlier but he's gone now."

"W-we know... we seen him..."

"What? What happened?"

"Be there shortly." Flare replies before putting away the device. "Damn it... That's the first time I met Eggman in person. Along with _Dark Red__..._

"What are we going to do now?" Shadow asks quietly.

"Do you think he's unstoppable?"

No... Hell no! We're going to continue fighting. Eggman had to protect himself so he's not invincible. Let's go." Flare and Shadow head up to the roof, via a small stairwell and find T and N waiting.

"Eggman wasn't alone." says N as Shadow and Flare approaches them. "He had a hedgehog with him. I assume that's the aide he always has with him. I forget his name."

"We ran into them..." said Shadow in a low voice. "How did you two know?"

"When we got here we overheard them talking. It seems they knew we were heading here all along and came to retrieve something beforehand. We're lucky they didn't bother searching the elevator or else we'd be screwed by now." says T while indicating the nearby elevator.

"Hm? What is this feeling?" BOOM! At that very moment the elevator breaks from a burst of energy as Pterobot from underneath it launches itself into the air. It's in terrible shape and most of its circuitry is hanging loose.

"Argh! This thing is pissing me off! I'm gonna put it out of its misery, once and for all!" shouts Shadow as he aims his gun.


	6. The Pterobot's End

Chapter 6: The Pterobot's End

Note: I apologize for the incoming wall of text. It's actually spaced out on my computer so it''s much easier on the eyes but FFNET puts it all together.

"Let me handle this by myself, I'll catch up!" Shadow tells the others.

"You're joking right?" N asks.

"No I'm not, I'm gonna end this bastard myself!"

"Look Shadow, I understand you took this thing down on your own before. Barely I might add."

"And I took him down a second time on the way up here with no thanks to Flare." Flare takes silent offense to that comment.

"We all came here together, we're gonna destroy this thing together. It's the best way!"

"I have a plan

"We'll meet you at the front!" said Flare as the others headed down the stairs. "If you're about to die then let out a yell so we don't wait forever!"

"Hey!" The others left already and Ptero sweeps past Shadow, knocking him over and dropping his weapon. Shadow crawls to the gun but the robot rams him away almost causing him to fall into the fire where the elevator once stood. "Whew" The the robot stays airborne while looking at Shadow. Shadow quickly gets up and leaps for the magnum and aims. The robot does a strange movements and disappears in a flash. "Um...huh?" Shadow feels himself get hit hard in the back and nearly falls off the roof. Shadow looks back to see the robot coming at him for the finishing ram. As soon as the robot got near, Shadow grabs it by the head and goes airborne with it while hanging on for dear life. Shadow places the magnum against it's head and unloads all his ammo. BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM!BAM! "EAT IT! EAT ALL OF IT! IT'S GOOD FOR YOU AND WHAT YOU DESERVE!" The robot begins shaking wildly and Shadow really holds on tighter since they aren't over the building anymore. Shadow manages to get on its back and boost off of it; he lands on the building and Ptero falls down into the street.

"Whew, not exactly what I had in mind but that works. Now let's see, how am I gonna destroy this dish?" Shadow reloads his magnum and suddenly he is lifted up by the collar of his shirt and slammed hard on his back. He lets out a cry in pain and gets up. Ptero is hovering right in front of him. "Damn you're stubborn! Want some more eh?" The robot opens a hatch on its back and a jet pack emerges. "Eh?" The wings turn horizontally and shoot away and become replaced with two cannon arms. "So, you done with your show and tell?" Pterobot's talons fall off and becomes armoured legs. It now has a humanoid appearance more different than the previous version. "I... probably shouldn't have jinxed it". The robot lets out a loud battle cry as tensions builds up. Regular hands come out of the guns barrel and grabs Shadow in a headlock. BANG! BANG! Shadow uses his free arm to shoot the robot twice in its stomach. The robot releases him and boosts high into the air; leaving a dustcloud. Shadow decides that it was out of shooting range and waits for it. The arms retract and of tiny dots come out. "Not this again!" Shadow braces himself as multitudes of bombs drop and explode all over, hitting every area around the satellite but not the satellite itself. Another crash is heard and a hole is left on the floor. Shadow looks up but no Pterobot in sight. "I know you're out here somewhere!" The floor under him gives away but instead of falling down, he gets hit in the jaw hard and is sent flying up and into the dish. Shadow instinctively curls into a ball and rolls around in the dish. Pterobot hovers over the dish and retracts its hands. Wrrrl! Energy gathers into the barrels of its cannon and the robot takes aim at the entire dish. "NOW!" In that time, Shadow gains enough momentum and launches himself out of the dish and slams hard into the robot causing it to combust a few times and misfire is stored energy into the air creating a blinding energy explosion. Ztzttzzt! It stays hovering while shorting out rapidly. "Dammit! Die already!"THUD! As if listening to Shadow's wish, it falls hard into the satellite causing it to shift positions due to its weight. BOOM! Shortly and after that you see a huge tunnel explosion emerge from the dish. "Good riddance, here's hoping you stay down for good this time!" Shadow strikes a pose in celebration of his victory. The satellite began exploding wildly. "Well, looks like my work here is done!" Suddenly the roof top gives away and Shadow falls through. "OH CRAP! AAH!" Down and down he falls through the building with the gigantic satellite falling behind him and tearing up walls on its descent. "This isn't part of the plan at ALL!"


	7. Silver of the Eggman Empire

Chapter 7: Silver of the Eggman Empire

Outside of the exploding building, N, T and Flare are riding away in the jeep as the building explodes and caves in.

_"I guess he didn't make it..."_ Flare thought to herself.

_"He gave his life to destroy that robot...?"_ N thought to herself. _"Shadow... Damn it!"_

Suddenly, a green flash of light appears in front of the jeep; T slams the brakes screeching the vehicle to a halt. When the flash cleared everyone see a cloaked figure along with Shadow.

"Holy crap! We made it! Thanks a lot!" Shadow shouts in excitement. The figure gives a thumbs up and dashes off at incredible speed.

"Shadow!" cries Flare as she jumps out the jeep and hugs Shadow. "You're alive!"

"Um, yeah, so what's the next plan?" SMACK! Flare smacks Shadow really hard, leaving him with a giant red hand print on his face and dizzy eyes.

"WE THOUGH YOU WERE KILLED AND ALL YOU CAN SAY IS 'Um, yeah'!"

"It was nothing...really, chaos control saved me. Also you didn't have to smack me ya know! You psycho!"

"Well, you needed some sense smacked into you-wait a second, did you say chaos control? You don't happen to be-"

"The world savior along with Sonic? His enemy at the time? Yes, and we both used Chaos Control to save the world!" Everyone looks at Shadow surprised.

"Eh! ...why didn't I realize this before!"

"I knew you looked familiar!" exclaimed T. The from in front of them, a pair of lights are heading towards them at high speed. "Heads up, everyone! Something's coming!" Everyone faced the direction of the light with their weapons ready. As it approaches, they realized it's a car. The car slowly stops not too far from Shadow and Flare. It's a silver Porsche with some nice shiny rims, visible mostly through the nearby street lights. The car door shuts as a figure steps out; everyone tenses up. A flashlight cuts on and shines on the group, nearly blinding everyone.

"Well, what do we have here? A bunch of losers, I see!" said a voice filled with confidence. He activates his walkie talkie. "They were standing here like idiots, just like you predicted Eggaman!"

"It's Eggman!" shouts Eggman over the device.

"Whatever, what should I do with them?"

"Show them what the Eggman empire can do but I want them brought to me alive."

"No can do, sir!"

"What do you MEAN!"

"This looks like way too much fun to hold out on, if they lose, they die, and I may never get such a fun chance again!" Everyone scowls at the hard-to-see enemy.

"You think you can take down all of us!" Shadow asks. "Hmph! I'd love to see that!"

"Don't kill them! I have a plan! You'll ruin it!" shouts Eggman. Staring unamused at Shadow, the man draws a grayish white scimitar with a blue handle with a tornado engraved on it from a sheathe on his back. He tosses the device in the air and slashed it cleanly in half.

"My name is Silver! I am the master of the wind element!" announced the silver hedgehog proudly. "I am here on the behalf of the Eggman Empire to put you outta your misery, so I hereby challenge all of you!"

"At the same?" Flare asks with a chuckle. "Ya know, when I thought we were going against the empire, I had expected only robots. This is turning out quite interesting."

"Let's just shoot him and get him out of the way!" said Shadow. Everyone nodded in agreement and start shooting. Pow!pow!pow!pow! Silver deflected EVERY single shot with his sword and then yawns. "...huh?"

"What?"

"How?" gasps N in amazement.

"No, it can't be!" said T. Silver just smirked sheepishly at them.

"What's the matter? Amazed at my agility?" Silver asks. "Firing at me when I don't have a gun isn't fair you cheating bastards!"

"Your energy, it's similar to D-" Silver interrupts Flare.

"You know how many people say that! I'll just finish the lame-o's first! And the hero..." He points his sword to Shadow. "...last"

"I'm ready!" shouts N, a hint of fear in her voice. T glances over the vehicle Silver came out of and looks back at the jeep.

"Everyone stand away from the vehicle!" said T with an unusual confident smile. Everyone did just that as T cuts on the jeep's headlights to reveal that Silver is a silver-furred hedgehog with sharp dark gray eyes. He's wearing a red leather jacket with yellow cuffs and a black shirt and jeans combo with matching shoes; a casual version of Eggman's suit.

"Now what?" Silver asks. "I hope you don't think you're gonna run my down in that cheap-ass rustbucket. It'll look humiliating if you try."

"Silver, you seem like the type of man who likes to have a little fun!"

"T, what are you doing?" N asks. T doesn't respond; he just keeps his focus on Silver who is staring back.

"No, you can't!"

"What?" asks the dumbfounded Shadow.

"T, don't do it!" says Flare. "He might not be as tough as he seems."

"What?"

"It won't work!" Silver mocks while waving his finger.

"WILL SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT THE HELL DOES THIS FOOL PLANS ON DOING!"

"I know I won't be able to hit him but I don't intend to; he'll just jump over me. Shadow, you take the others away from here, I'm gonna race this bitch off the road!" says T with a huge grin.

"Oh is that all? It's only just about the dumbest idea you've had so far."

"I'm guessing your idea of taking on that robot and damn near getting killed in the blast was the greatest idea ever then?" Shadow looks back at the wreckage and the enormous cloud of smoke rising from it with a sweatdrop.

"If the bastard wants a race then he'll get one! Haven't had much time to use this baby anyhow." shouts Silver, sheathing his sword and hopping into his car.

"GO!" shouts T. With that, everyone runs and T floors the car. Silver turns his car around and gives a chase.


	8. Race

Chapter 8: Race

The only sounds heard are the humming of the two vehicles racing on the empty, dark streets.

"Heh, just make it easy on yourself!" taunts Silver. "You're gonna die anyway so just lay still and put mind over matter; It'll your death will be painless, probably!" T struggles to see the road ahead of him as the destruction of the building has shut off all lights in the surrounding area. He doesn't understand how Silver can drive normally as even Silver's car headlights aren't enough to let him see more than a few feet ahead. He is fortunate to find a narrow alley and turns sharply through it. Silver's car stops because the jeep dropped many obstacles behind in the ally. T lets out a sigh of relief and turns out of the alley, but to his surprise, Silver is once again hot on his trail.

"What the hell!" shouts T.

"HAHA! Nice try though! You get a present for that, a chance to help me test out the capabilities of my car!" Silver presses some buttons near his steering wheel and two rockets come out of the undersides of the car. "Rockets away, huh!" The first rocket hits the back of the car and makes it do a front flip but it lands normally. The second one misses when T swerves around a corner; Silver follows closely.

"I can't shake him!"

"YOU SHAKE CAN'T ME! My skills behind the wheel are unrivaled, loser." T turns himself around halfway and open fire at Silver's car but the bullets just bounce off.

"Damn it! Bullet-proof? Really?" The cars reach a hill going down. T tries to stop since he didn't see it coming but winds up rolling down it. CRASH! BANG! SMASH! CRASH! BANG! SMASH! Those are the only sounds you hear until the jeep reaches the bottom where it luckily lands on all four wheels. T's head is on the steering wheel, semi-conscious.

FLASH!  
The view shows Station Square.  
FLASH!  
The view shows T and some girl running away from a robot's gun fire.  
FLASH!  
The view shows the girl laying in a pool of blood..

End of flashes.

"My sister..." T mumbles. He wakes up and sees his blood on the steering wheel, he wipes his head and grunts.

"Looks like your head is busted from that pretty nasty fall! You should see our doctor." says Silver who T realizes is parked next to him. T floors the car again and goes across onto a bridge. "Stop being such a sore loser and die already!" Two gun barrels appear from the engine trunk of the car and fire repeatedly. T ducks as the bullets pound the jeep, some eventually smashing the windshield. T had to think of a plan fast.

"Of course! How did I forget!" T digs in the glove compartment and pulls out a grenade. "EAT THIS, SILVER BOY!" He tosses the grenade backwards and it lands and plants itself on Silver's windshield, on Silver's side.

"Oh sh-" BOOOOM! Silver was cut off by the explosion and his car flips over and starts spinning on it s top.

"Whoa! I guess his car is far more volatile that it looks, well, at least I beat him..."

"DON'T GAS YOUR HEAD UP, HUMAN! I CAN CONTROL THE WIND!" With that, T realizes that the jeep is slowly getting pulled towards the car and a tornado forms around Silver's car. T keeps his foot on the gas while navigating the wheels left and right and finally breaks free. "Oh nah, you ain't getting away that easy!" The tornado begins following the jeep. T looks at the fuel gauge, there is only 1/4 of fuel left and dropping, FAST!

"Man, this vehicle wasn't meant to take this much strain. Could this get any worst?" As if fate answered his question his vision started to blur due to the fact the he is loosing too much blood. His consciousness slowly slipping. Silver, realizing this, disperses the tornado and drives after him, his car unscathed by the grenade.

"Returning some karma, punk!" Silver catches up to T and tosses a time bomb in his jeep. T is too weak to hold on to the floor pedal so the car slows to a stop. He pushes himself out of the jeep and struggles to his feet and starts running although sloppily. After about 5 seconds. BOOOOOM! A huge explosion follows and a huge fireball goes into the air; the remains of the jeep land a few yards in front of T, charred and destroyed beyond repair.

"Glad that wasn't me... ugh..." T collapses and a pair of black shoes walk next to him.

"You weren't kidding, that was fun!" shouts Silver happily as he places bandages around T's head. "But Silver always come out on the top! Remember that." He tosses T in his car and drives off into the lavender dawning sky.

Several minutes later, at the hideout.

Flare and N pace around anxiously. Shadow is just sitting with his arms folded across his chest.

"Will you two just sit down? Ya making me nervous!" grunts Shadow, annoyed. Both girls shoot him a nasty glare. "WHAT! The mission went fine didn't it!"

"Ugh! Now you're starting to get on MY nerves!" shouts N.

"How could you say something like that? T isn't even back yet, I have a bad feeling." cries Flare.

"How would you know? You a psyc-" Shadow began but is cut off.

"IT'S A HUNCH!"

"Ok, calm down! If he's not back within 30 minutes then I'll search for him."

"Alone? You're gonna try this loner crap again? Remind me why you decided to join us again!" Shadow looks at the clock on the wall, it reads 4:30 A.M. 6am is when most robots will be active and working time begins. Shadow closes his eyes. He is reminiscing about the time he saved the world and about how skilled he was but then he feels a sudden jolt and catches a huge migraine.

"Ah...! Yup, I'm going on my own if he doesn't come, I know I can do this."

"No, cut the crap, I'm going with you!"

"I, I know I can do this. I was a hero once, if there is anyone everyone should count on, it's me and Sonic but there's no Sonic around so it's up to me! Ugh!" Shadow's head hurts with each memory.

"You're an idiot, Shadow..."


	9. To The Egg Fortress!

Chapter 9: To the Egg Fortress!

Shadow gazes at the clock as the others sleep.

"5AM and he hasn't arrived yet..." Shadow mumbled to himself. "Damn it, I figured I wouldn't get a break! I guess I'm going." Shadow hurries out the door.

At the Egg Fortress, the heart of the formally known Station Square.

The silver hedgehog makes his way to a balcony with mid-sized walls that overlooks the city and places T on a large table-like structure and attaches him to it, locking his wrist, ankles and waist.

"When Argman wakes up, he'll be ecstatic to know I caught one of them instead of killing them all!" Silver says with a smirk as he walks off.

"It's Eggman!" Silver somehow heard Eggman's voice say.

"Strange..."

With Shadow, outside in the city.

Shadow walks along the streets under the now lightly colored sky. He stops and glances at the Egg Fortress which is clearly visible almost anywhere in the city; being the tallest building, it overshadows every building nearby.

"Don't worry T, I'll come get you!" announces Shadow vigilantly. He begins skating really fast down the street. "Even if I don't know my way around here, it's pretty damn obvious where you are!" Shadow doesn't realize the little fly camera behind him.

Egg Fortress, security room.

D.R. is watching on the fly camera.

"I didn't think you were dumb enough to show yourself so soon Shadow." D.R. says with a grin. He presses some buttons.

The alarms began to ring loudly, they can be heard everywhere.

"Damn that was fast!" shouts Shadow angrily. Helicopter gunships began to appear.

"Halt! Failure to comply and we will be forced to fire, resistance is futile!" announces one of the robots piloting the gunships.

"I choose... the futile part!" Shadow is now moving just like Super Sonic by using the jets on the bottom of his shoes. The helicopters fire machines guns non-stop but Shadow has no trouble dodging them. He come across a steep road and to the left of it, a normal road. "Hmm, going up the hill would be the fastest way to the fortress but suicidal since it could slow me down and give the helicopters their chance, or I could take the really long way but still get chase by helicopters and get killed eventually... guess I gotta pick one." Shadow then leans forward and his shoes burst out a large amount of flames, giving Shadow twice as much speed. He goes up the hill, shifts his feet back on the ground and launches himself right into the helicopter's cockpit. The two robots which happens to be E-1000 robots turn to him and open fire. Shadow moves with incredible agility and smashes both of their heads together. Their bodies become electrified and spark out. Shadow is just about to let out a sigh when a scary thought strikes him. "THE HELICOPTER WILL FALL!" The helicopters communication activates.

"Pilot one, requesting visual on escaping prisoner!" says the robot. Shadow quickly handles the controls so it won't fall.

"Ok, how do I fly this thing?"

"Pilot one, requesting visual on escaping prisoner. Prisoner has appeared to have vanished." Shadow manages the control stick and turns the helicopter towards the other. Shadow then looks at the red button on it.

"Bad things happen when you press red buttons right?" Whoosh-BOOM! He presses the button and to his surprise the helicopter fired a missile right into the other cockpit decimating it completely. Shadow watches in awe at the sight of the falling debris. "Cool... I guess this is my ride!" He spots a button on the right of the stick. "Can't hurt to figure out what this button does!" he holds the button and the machine guns fire. "Alright! To the Egg Fotress, Shadow style!"

The helicopter flies sloppily towards the fortress.


	10. Crime and Punishment

Chapter 10: Crime and Punishment

In the Egg Fortress, security room.

D.R. is looking at the helicopter on camera.

"Impressive, Shadow, but the closer you get to your objective the more dangerous it's going to get!" he says and then turned his attention to the left. The view shows a very well polished magnum on a nearby control panel. "If I have to get involved I won't hold back!"

With Shadow, in the fortress.

BOOM! He lands-well, smashes, the helicopter to a stop in the fortress's hangar.

"Argh! I gotta learn how to use this crap!" mutters the black hedgehog as he struggles to get up from the wreckage but a piece sticking out trips him over. "Oof-Damn it!" He is just about to kick whatever it is until it catches his eye. "A SHOTGUN! Now my luck is changing!" Whoosh! After that, the helicopter bursts into flames. "Or not..." He quickly takes the weapon and some shells and leaps right out of the cockpit and BOOM! ducks just in time to avoid the shock wave of the exploding helicopter. As if he set off a silent alarm, robot raptors storm in in an orderly fashion and surround Shadow. They slowly circle him while looking at him. Shadow just aims his shotgun while trying not to get close to them. Suddenly CLANK! A larger version of the raptors land inside of the circle and slowly approaches Shadow, the other raptors get behind the bigger one as the big one stomps right in front of Shadow and looks down on him. Shadow, although he is scared on the inside, glares back at it. After a moment of staring, robotic noises are heard then the big one faces the little ones and nod; they nod back.

"Intruder confirmed, termination in progress!" announces the big raptor, its voice sounding like a deep metallic demon. The little raptors screech and a yellow energy barrier forms around all of them; they run really fast then their legs form into wheels, now they're surrounding Shadow and the large raptor cutting off any escape.

"So, you want me to stand around and let you destroy me, eh?" asks Shadow as he raise the shotgun to eye level. "That's not happening buddy."

"Weapon detected!" shouts the robot as it swiftly smacks Shadow down with its tail.

"Oof!" The robot then makes an attempt to stomp on Shadow but he rolls out of the way just in time. He lifts up the shotgun to eye level quickly. BOOM! He fires right into the robot's chest causing massive amounts of electricity to engulf it. Shadow uses the time to get on one knee and aim. The electricity wears off BOOM! and the robot quickly blocks with its heavily armored tail. The tail then sweeps horizontally at Shadow and knocks him almost into the smaller raptors. "Whew!" The large one then walks over to the hedgehog and makes another attempt to step on him but Shadow notices a small crystal under its foot as he evades. The shock wave, however, causes Shadow to roll over again. Shadow stands up quickly but trips over and lands right into the other raptors. BZZZZZZZZZT! "AAAAAHH!" The barriers are electrical! Every inch of Shadow's body stung him to near paralysis. Shadow fights through the pain and stand up again. The large robot then walks over to him but BOOM! Shadow lands another shot through the robot's chest causing more electricity to surround him. "I should shoot him again... no, I'll get a surefire result when I wait for him to stop shorting out." The electricity wears off but the robot just stands immobilized. "YES!" The raptor circle began to close in on them quickly so Shadow had no choice but to take refuge under the large one. The circling raptors then spread out again while continuing their movement. "Can't rest yet, gotta figure out how am I gonna get past those bolt heads." Suddenly Shadow heard an opening noise and looks up. "Oh crap!" The under side of the giant raptor opens on him. BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM ! Multitudes of mini-bombs drop on him causing him to fly right from under the robot and into its view.

"Repairs partially complete! Resuming battle mode!" Shadow laid helplessly in pain on the floor. He had been blown up at close range so the blasts were extremely effective. He tries to get up but is too weak to continue, all he manages to do is lay on his back. His vision is blurry and his body felt as if it was going to fall apart any second. He notices something large approaching him through all of the blur.

"That must be it!" He grabs and aims the shotgun. BOOM! Then blue strings of energy is seen which Shadow interpreted as being the electricity. "Got him... ugh..." Shadow is overwhelmed with exhaustion and pain then passes out.

Meanwhile, with Flare and N.

Both are still sleeping.

(Flare's dream)

Shows Station Square then zooms into a playground.

A younger looking Flare is on a bench watching little kids playing, now it focuses on a black cat about the same age wearing a red jersey with sporty looking black shorts, playing with a dark gray cat about 10 years old wearing the same thing. Flare sighs happily as she watches the older one. Suddenly an enormous crowd of people run away screaming as robots filled the area while shooting at everyone. The black cat is one of those who is shot. Flare tries to run and help him but the crowd is too strong and she can't make her way through, then robots surround the cat blocking the view. Flare just reaches out but still can't get through. A tear drops down her cheek as she is trampled by the crowd.

(Dream end)

Flare jumps up and break into a sweat.

"Robotnik! YOU'LL PAY!" growls Flare. Whoosh! A ball of fire erupts around her body and flickers wildly. That woke N up.

"Whoa whoa whoa, turn the heat down, I'm not fireproof ya know!" shouts N.

"Sorry N, it's just that Eggman - the dream - pissed me OFF!" With that, the fireball flares up again, almost roasting N. Realizing this, Flare immediately calms down dispelling the flame.

"Wait, where's Shadow? I have a bad feeling that something happen to him." Flare glances at the time.

"7:30 AM, Shadow is not back, I'll try to find him."

"Wait, it's working time and daylight, we'll get caught for sure!"

"...so what are you gonna do?" Flare closed her eyes and thought for a moment then opens them with a determined look on her face.

"I'm gonna fight!" Flare runs off.

"But-" The door slams shut. "...I'm going with you!" N chases after her.

Meanwhile, on the Egg Fortress rooftop.

"Argh...uhn...uh...huh..." Shadow moans as he regain his consciousness. To his amazement he is on the ground, facing the dull gray sky. "How? How...did I get...outside?"

"MUHAHAHA!" laughs Eggman, Sonic Shuffle style. "Wakey, wakey, Shadow!" Shadow sits up quickly, on guard. His arms and legs are chained to two poles on either side of him. He looks forward to see T in the same situation but on his knees while looking down on the floor his face bruised, bloody and the floor around him littered with blood. Eggman is standing next to him while holding a sword. Looking around, it became clear where he is; the roof of the Egg Fortress.

"What have you done to him?"

"Me? He did this to himself! He broke the law; laws are meant to be followed. I created them so that they WOULD be followed. When one goes against the law it would only be fitting that the law be enforced, wouldn't you agree, Shadow?"

"No, frankly I don't care about you or your laws. I came to rescue T and put an end to you."

"Hmph! Why can't you people accept the fact that I'm gonna be the world ruler?" asks Eggman as he carelessly swings the sword nearly cutting T.

"You have the country, isn't that enough?"

"No, as a matter of fact, it isn't! I want complete power where everywhere I go, I want absolute control over the entire PLANET!" Shadow glares silently at him. "Don't look so glum, Shadow! Today is your lucky day, you have a chance to go away alive while your useless friend here gets to be a star in in his final moments just like many who came before him!" Suddenly overcome with fear, Shadow's heart skips a beat.

"What do you mean!?" Shadow hoping it wasn't what he was thinking. Eggman lets out a chuckle.

"You get to watch your friend die!" Shadow nearly gasps at the news.

"NO!" Eggman beckons D.R. who walks over to T with Silver right behind him. Silver is holding a shotgun similar to the one Shadow was using. D.R. sets up a camera.

"Relax, all things considered, you should be right there alongside him. Instead, thanks to careful consideration, you get front row seats and a slap on the wrist." Eggman grins with malicious intent.

"You're on, sir." says D.R., looking through the camera.

Meanwhile, with Flare and N who are running through the streets while taking down oncoming robots.

Bang! Bang! Boom! N fires 2 shots into the robot raptors head explode it.

"Another one for the scrap yard!" she says.

A large ad screen activates and Eggman's theme booms from it. Even the robots are paying full attention.

"Look!" shouts Flare pointing to the screen. The exact area where Shadow and T are being held is shown on screen.

"No!" cries N and Flare simultaneously.

"MUHAHAHA!" laughs Eggman once again in Sonic Shuffle style. "Greetings citizens of Robotnik Land! It is very rare that I speak to all of you incredibly happy people like this since you all live such happy lives but today a homegrown terrorist decided to attack our beloved Egg Fortress!" The camera closes up on T. "Ahem! It seems our very helpful peacekeeper, Silver, had to be a little rough with him but it was necessary in order to retain peace! Now what do we do to people that try to disturb the peace?"

"We get rid of them!" D.R. is heard saying in the background.

"We vaporize them!" exclaims Silver excitedly.

"Exactly!" shouts Eggman as Silver punches T in the face. "You heard them yourself; death is the price you pay for your insurgency!" All the robots in the area cheer and pump their fists in the air.

"YOU MONSTER!" shouts Shadow as he struggles to break free of his shackles.

"Shadow..." Shadow heard T whisper very weakly. "Don't worry about me... I knew what I signed up for and what the risks were... Beat Eggman...give everyone a chance..." He coughs. "A chance...to be...happy..." Those final words echo in Shadow's mind briefly putting Shadow in a state of shock.

_"A chance to be happy? I've heard that before but where and from who?"_

"Silver, do us the honors!" shouts Eggman as he hands Silver the sword. "Killing without a machine just isn't my style." Without any hesitation Silver stabs T right through the stomach with the sword he was holding.

"AAAHHH!" T lets out an ear-shattering agonizing scream as Silver drives the sword until the tip pokes out of T's back. Shadow fearfully and helplessly watches while trying desperately to break free. Silver suddenly twists the sword before releasing the handle, leaving the sword inside of T. Blood gushes out and sprays everywhere. "DAMN YOU!" D.R. and Silver laugh at his pain.

"Stop it!" demands Shadow.

With Flare & N...

"NO!" shouts N in horror. "This isn't happening! It can't be happening! It just can't!" She starts breaking down crying. Flare comforts her.

"Damn it, Silver captured him instead of killing him... We can't do anything to help him!" said Flare. "Oh God...Let this end soon"

"There is no God! If there was then none of this would be happening!"

"N..." Flare couldn't think of anything else to do or say. She just bravely watches the screen.

With Shadow.

"Make him suffer more!" shouts Eggman. Silver creates a mini tornado which eventually enlarges to T's size, D.R. blast loads of tiny icicles which circulate through the tornado. Silver controls the tornado to go over T and all that is heard is sick slashing noises and T screaming in pain. After moments of helplessly watching Shadow final speaks.

"CUT IT OUT!" He shouts so loud that the ground vibrates.

"Makes us." Silver retorts. He and D.R. thrust their arms out and the tornado explodes shooting white specs of energy everywhere. When it cleared, T is sliced everywhere and panting hard; blood oozing from every cut. Shadow glares at everyone's pleased faces. A powerful urge to shout 'stop' rising in him but decides that no one will listen.

"Heartless bastards!"

"Shadow..." T whispers again but far more weakly this time. "This is where we say...good bye! Tell...the other...that's I'm sorry."

"Tommy..."

"Let's wrap it up, finish him off boys!" commands Eggman.

"I know you have it in you to break those chains...use it! Use your power!" T says then coughs up some blood.

"My power?" Shadow asks, confused..

"Silver, do the honors." says Eggman. Silver picks up the shotgun and aims directly at the center of T's forehead.

"It's an honor alright." replies Silver with a grin.

"Does the terrorist have anything else to say?"

"Eggman..." T says softly then takes a deep breath. "With my last breath I WILL CURSE YOU! You will be finished!" Next he points to Shadow. "Shadow...and the others...they WILL DEFEAT YOU! YOUR! DAYS! ARE! NUMBERED!" With that T's body goes limp and lifeless.

"They always choose the dramatic way out! Ok, Silver, we wasted enough time now finish him!"

"Good...bye..." Shadow cried unwillingly. He closes his eyes. Click!

"Aww. No ammo?" Silver says with a whine. "I wanted it to be ironic that he was killed with Shadow's weapon. Oh well, I have another idea." Silver cups his hands and a white energy ball forms between. "HEDGEHOG BEAM FULL POWER!" Shadow only hears a loud roar followed by a quake. When Shadow opens his eyes all that was left of T is large crater spot with his imprint, and Silver having a few sparks of energy surrounding his hand. "Treason is an the unforgivable crime! It should be a sin if you ask me." Shadow's heart is now filled with fury and anger, he desired it more than anything at this moment. Now the only thing on his mind is to stop Eggman.

"And cut! Got some prime footage. " D.R. says gleefully as he packs up the camera equipment and leaves.

"Eggman!" Shadow growls while giving the evil doctor a death glare. "I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!" With an intense roar a red aura instantly forms around him. He shatters his shackles like glass and balls his fist.

"Whoa. An aura?" gasps Silver.

"A red aura, very interesting! I guess keeping you around was a good decision after-all!" says Eggman with a smile. Shadow points to Eggman.

"Eggman it's all over for you! First, I want to KILL Silver, then you'll be joining him!" growls Shadow fiercely while starting down Silver.

"Kill me?" Silver asks surprised. "I'd like to see you try!" Shadow and Silver rush towards each other.


	11. A Moment in Angst

Chapter 11: A Moment In Angst

The two hedgehogs collide with great force but Shadow instantly gains the upper hand and sucker-punches Silver in the face. Silver flies back and lands on his hands before flipping back upright. He rushes back at Shadow lands a drop kick which seemed weak but Shadow is launched with force and crashes his back on the wall. Holding in the pain, Shadow gets up and runs at Silver again. This time, Silver blocks with his forearm and counters with a headbutt to the face. Shadow endures the pain and attempts to punch again but Silver grabs Shadow's wrist, pulls him close and elbows him in the face which knocks Shadow down and depletes his aura. Silver then leaps into the air and comes down with a heel kick but Shadow rolls out of the way in time. Silver's attack misses and slams the ground hard enough to kick up gravel. Silver then jumps at Shadow who blocks and uppercuts Silver in the face. Silver grins as if nothing happened and head butts Shadow giving him a black eye. Shadow tries to head butt back but Silver was expecting it so he side steps and Shadow falls over.

"Pfft! What happened to all that power to just had? Your last hit was pathetic!" Silver mocks as he steps on Shadow's back. Shadow tries to push himself back on his feet but Silver places more weight on his back and begins pressing down on him.

"Aaaah! Aaaah! AH! _Damn, I wish he were affected by my spikes!_" Shadow cries in pain. To him, Silver's foot feels like a ton of bricks.

"Quit your bitchin'! You talked a lot of good crap earlier but apparently that was all bark and no bite!" With that, Silver pressed harder and Shadow cries out louder. "How the hell can you stop a space station from falling on the planet but can't stop an ordinary hedgehog like me? Oops, I insulted myself... You're despicable, disgusting...I cannot even look at you as the same way as I used to a long time ago."

"Well, that doesn't mean much to me...coming from you at least. Heheh." Silver, annoyed ,stomps on Shadow's back causing him to scream again.

"It's not good to make your superiors angry."

"Where? I don't see any superiors." Silver grits his teeth then stomps on his back with his heel. Shadow screams out in pain and began coughing uncontrollably and gasping for air.

"It ain't gonna to be funny when you're bleeding out of your artery, asshole!"

"I think that'll do, Silver." said Eggman calmly. Both, Shadow and Silver was startled, neither of them knew that Eggman was still watching. "Now send him on his way so we can finish our business!"

"Bleh! Consider yourself lucky you black bastard!" Shadow felt himself levitating upward, looking down, he is being carried by a gust of wind. "So long, disgraceful bastard!" In a flash, the wind pushes Shadow right through the wall of the balcony and into the empty air of the city.

"Dammit Silver that's not what I meant! We still needed him!"

"Sorry sir, I doubt that'll be enough to kill him anyway. He fell through the atmosphere and survived didn't he?"

"Barely, Silver, BARELY! I'll have to contact the others now just in case!"

"That won't be necessary." a mysterious female voice from the shadows says. Silver and Eggman look back to the figure. "This will work out just fine with no intervention from us. You may continue your plans." The figure waves her hands over the hole in the wall to repair i then vanishes.

Shadow is spiraling helplessly down towards the city streets. Everything seemed to go in slow motion for him so he catches a good view of the city from above. He had seen the city fom above once but it seems so more bland now than that of the past. He used the time to organizing his thoughts.

_"What if I just stayed in my cell, would I have lived longer? What if I won the fight with Silver, would that have changed anything? Would I have been able to end Eggman here? What if me and Sonic just let the ARK fall, could we have prevented this from happening?"_ His head ached with the thought of the ARK. His body begins building momentum and plummets fast, his spiky fur fluttering in the wind. _"Was it fate that brought me here? Why was I worried about this in the first place? How did I survive that fall to earth? Haven't I already succeed in my promise to Maria?"_ Something inside him sparked. "Maria! It was Maria who wanted me to give everyone a chance to be happy that's where I heard it from." A slight jolt hits Shadow. _"UGH! I'm sorry...Maria, everyone, I have failed. I deserved to die here!"_ ZZZT! Electricity engulfs Shadow shocking him into an unconscious state as he closes his eyes and a tear drop gleams. _"None of this matters now, it'll all be over soon..."_


	12. The Secret Weapon

Chapter 12: The Secret Weapon

"Eggman, is going DOWN!" N shouts as she bangs her fist against the ground. She then looks at Flare whose eyes focus to the sky. "Let's get him, Flare!". Flare keeps her focus. "I don't care how we do it but we-eh...what are you looking at?"

"Oh no! SHADOW!" cries Flare as she runs away with her eyes still fixed on the sky. N can barely keep up with Flare's super human speed.. She dashes around corners and cuts through alleyways, increasing her speed as much as she can. N struggles to keep up.

"Flare, what are you looking at anyway?" N looks at the sky to spot the black hedgehog spiraling towards the ground. _"It's Shadow! Flare is trying to catch him!"_ While trying to keep up with Flare, mini helicopter robots appear and open fire at N. She draws out her pistol and fires back while ducking and running between whatever cover she can find. Weirdly, they go down with one shot each. Soon, they arrive near the Egg Fortress. Surrounding the fortress is an artificial moat giving it more of a castle-like feel. Flare then leaps over the protective railing and catches Shadow while falling straight into the stream below. N finally catches up to the spot where Flare leaped from and looked over the edge of the rail. She sees nothing but water with two currents going in opposite directions.

"Flare! FLARE!? FLARE! No way she can survive in all that water. FLARE!" BANG BANG BANG! Multiple shots ring from behind her; she turns around. Numerous raptor robots are firing at her on their approach. "Ah!" She slowly backs up, forgetting about the rail, and splashes into the water currents.

Egg Fortress 10:15 A.M.

The view shows a dark room but the only light is from a strange fox in a tube.

"Marvelous. It's developing quite nicely." Eggman says as he presses a few buttons on the machine. A door shutting is heard followed by foot steps.

"So, Egg sir, I heard about Shadow. I guess we're back to smacking down wannabes in other areas huh?" It's D.R.'s voice.

"Hmph! I guess he was just a regular hedgehog after all!"

"It would be kinda funny if he did survive, master Eggo!" said another voice in the room.

SILVER, IT'S EGGMAN, EGGMAN! E-G-G-M-A-N, I AM THE EGGMAN!" Just then, the lights cut  
on to reveal Silver and the rest.

"Yeah, yeah!" Silver glances at the body in the tube then turns away. "Ugh. You should've at least gave him some convenient censoring. His equipment is such a disservice to my eyes. Anyway, what's so special about this guy?"

"He's absolutely vital to the future of the empire! My best kept secret weapon using the power we gained from-"

"But he's just a fox, like Tails."

"He's not so secret if all three of us know about it." said D.R. with a little chuckle. "Heh, little joke there."

"Very little..." Eggman says, annoyed.

"Ok, Eggoman, what can this fox do that is so special?"

"IT'S EGGMAN!

"Yeah, yeah!" Eggman lets out a sigh.

"Despite looking full in form he's not quite complete, this fox's power level will be raised to the ultimate level, it will read minds, control all element, and possess ultra strength and speed!"

"So he'll act as a living chaos emerald?"

"So much more better than that, dear boy. I've used most of the power of the chaos and super emeralds to make this creature and hope to create a being of infinite power and immortality. The ultimate life-form!"

"Whoa, that's the good doctor for ya. I still don't get why it's a secret weapon and why you kept it from me and Silver for so long." D.R. asks while scratching his head.

"Don't over-think it, D.R.. The knowledge of this particular weapon was not and is not important until I can get it to its final stages. In the off-chance that something should happen to it I do have a back-up plan. Heh heh."

"We've got bots placed damn-near all around the city. Soon the world will succumb to our army, nothing can stand in your way!"

"Oh Silver. That's the type of thinking that caused my previous plans to fail. I'll not have it this time, especially with Shadow and others ragtag groups running around."

"Shadow was already taken care of!" exclaims Silver.

"You said it yourself. If he was able to survive that fall through that atmosphere he can survive almost anything! That's what I aim for with this creatue, to fuse him with as much power as possible to survive even the most critical of situations! He'll be made of iron metaphorically speaking."

"I said what?" Eggman falls over.

"Which reminds me." D.R. mumbles then takes out a walkie-talkie. "TAILS GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!" Moments later Tails rushes holding something in a cloth. He looks terrible, his fur is pale orange, shaggy and his bangs are out of place with split ends.

"I-I-I cleaned it real good for you, master!" Tails stutters while shaking with fear. D.R. VERY rudely snatches the cloth causing the poor fox to flinch, he opens it and a bright golden light radiates from the center of the cloth.

"Took ya long enough. My golden emerald is shiny shiny, oh so shiny! I cleaned it so awesomely."

"You treat that dumb thing as if it's sooo important. What does it do anyway?"

"It does lots of things! Like...uh...hmm...something with fuzzies, I think."

"I probably shouldn't bother explaining any of this since both of your idle memories are faulty. If what I were told is correct, Dark Red's golden emerald contains a peculiar type of energy. It has properties that negate energy even from the chaos emeralds and can fuse any matter that it focuses on together! However-"

"Hey, D.R. let's see who can shoot Tails the most!" shouts Silver.

"Hey yeah, you better run you two tailed bastard!" says D.R. with a smirk. Tails runs for his life. "Yee haw! The hunt is on!" Gleefully the two hedgehogs give chase.

"Dark Red is 22 and Silver is 26, it's impressive on how they both are young at mind. I have to note that in my research." said Eggman. Eggman hears a loud beeping noise, the fox's vital signs are getting stronger and stronger very rapidly, its power level is increasing faster and faster. "Hmm? This is odd..." Suddenly red electricity surrounded the tube and sparked out returning everything back to normal. "Very interesting indeed, this weapon might be more bang than a buck."

Meanwhile.

Flare and Shadow are unconscious in a stream of water with Flare holding onto Shadow; her shirt snagged on a piece of metal sticking out of the wall. The water is overflowing into a pitch-black tunnel where if she falls in, her and Shadow may be dragged underwater and drown. A jumps down into the canal and lands on top of the water. It picks up Flare and Shadow and hops out of the canal with an amazing leap. They then sit both hedgehogs down and listens to their breathing. Shadow, after briefly coughing up water, opens his eyes wearily to see the dull gray sky and someone looking down on him.

"So this is what death is like?" he asks and then passes out.

"They aren't who I'm searching for but maybe they'll have some answers." comments the figure as it picks up Shadow and Flare. The voice sounds like D.R.'s.

Meanwhile, N is struggling to stay above water as she is dragged around by the water currents through a sewer.


	13. Enter Red: Dark Red's Brother

Chapter 13: Enter Red: Dark Red's Brother

In a metallic forest, 10: 23 AM

Shadow slowly regains conscious then arises. He observes his surroundings; a very small half metallic island though it's more of a platform; the trees are part metal and part organic and the water around it was somewhat murky with oil-like substances floating around.

"Back in hell, I see..." He mumbles to himself as he stands up. "I wonder where am I..." He spots Flare unconscious and checks her pulse. "Alive... WAKE UP!" Flare slowly opened her eyes and smiles weakly.

"You're alive after all, that's good!" exclaims Flare as she sits up.

"Where are we now? I don't remember coming here."

"Perhaps I can answer that." said D.R.'s voice from a treetop. Shadow and Flare looks up but can only see a silhouette.

"It's D.R.!" Flare growls. She and Shadow stand and get into combative poses.

"Oh? You know about my little brother then?" The figure leaps from the treetop and lands in front of them. "I'm the one who brought you here."

"Huh?" Flare and Shadow gasped in unison. The figure is a tall blue hedgehog, the same height as D.R. and the same crimson colored eyes with long bangs that cover his forehead and the left side of his face. He wears black cargo with a white tanktop and an open tactical vest on top of said shirt.

"Just call me Red, although it's not my real name. I am D.R.'s older brother." said the blue hedgehog as he brushes his bangs back a little with his hand to get a better look at them; while he's noticeably much older, he does bare an extremely strong resemblance to Dark Red himself.

Egg Fortress.

"Dark Red! How many times have I told you to not beat up on Tails!?" growls Eggman. D.R. is punching Tails who is frozen by his wrist and ankles to a rusted machine.

"I can't help it, he's so plushy." replied D.R. as he continues pounding on Tails like a punching bag. Eggman sighs and continues.

"Listen, scanners in the Gigabyte Forest indicate that there are intruders in the area, I want you to investigate immediately!" Silver enters and rams his head hard into Tails' stomach.

"OOH!" shouts Tails as he falls unconscious.

"Don't let D.R. hog all the fun, give me something to do toooooo!" Silver whines as he tugs Eggman's coat. Eggman stands in thought for a moment and then snaps his fingers.

"I got it! Come with me!" said Eggman with glee. Silver and Eggman walked through the metallic halls until they reached a room with a very white wall.

"You want me to paint the wall!"

"What!?"

"Heh, little joke there!"

"Very little...listen, although I would've asked you to do this a long time ago, I originally planned on dealing with this myself." Eggman presses a button and a picture of Angel Island appears on the wall from an overhead projector. "I need you to go to that island and take a precious little gem for me."

"A gem? As in tiny crystal? This will be too easy!"

"It's not tiny at all, in fact, it's very wide; you'd probably need to borrow on of my Eggmobiles to pick it up!"

"Bah, I'll use wind, no big deal! I still think it's a waste of my abilities."

"One more thing." The screen changes to Knuckles face.

"Who the hell is that?"

"This is a formidable foe for you, he protects the gem which is also known as the Master Emerald."

"Too easy!" Eggman then gets an idea.

"He thinks you're a loser."

"WHAT!? OH HE'S DEAD NOW!"

"Now, I want you to GET THE EMERALD, IMMEDIATELY, DON'T LET ANYTHING STAND IN YOUR WAY!"

"Gotcha, Aguman!" Silver salutes and uses his wind powers to fly through the ceiling but hits his head hard. "Ack!" Eggman hands Silver a jet pack.

"Save your energy, you'll most likely need it!"

"Thanks!" BOOM! Silver launches off with the jetpack and blows his way through the wall.

"I'm going to have to make some rules around here." says Eggman as he swings around and leaves.

Gigabyte Forest, 10:34 AM

"So Red, how did D.R. become he way he is?" Flare asks. Red sits against a fully metal tree and takes out a bulky, customized magnum with the words 'Jaguar Magnus' labelled on it. Flare leaps out of his way, pushing Shadow along with her. Red gives her a surprised look as he takes out a cloth from one of his vest pockets and begins wiping his weapon.

"WHAT IS YOUR DAMAGE!?" shouts Shadow with cross veins appearing on his head. Flare wasn't surprised to hear him say that, knowing his temper.

"It's only natural to be paranoid in times like this." said Red calmly. "At least it shows that she is ready for anything, besides, I don't like to waste ammo on non-enemies; I need to save it for the badniks and hopefully Eggman."

"I'm glad to see you're on our side, Red." Flare says with a sigh of relief.

"Now, getting back to my story, honestly, I don't know how he became this way but I'll explain what I know..."

10 Minutes before Eggman's attack, a young D.R. (12 years old) and teenager Red (20, they are 8 years apart) are dueling with wooden swords on a beach.

"Hiya!" shouts D.R. as comes down at Red with a downward slash from above. Red then intercepts and pushes D.R. back.

"No, no, no!" said Red disappointingly. "When you leap, you're supposed to fall more faster, enemies aren't just gonna stand around and wait for you to attack!"

"Ok, let me try again." D.R. jumps far back, runs and leaps high but this time, Red leaps and hits D.R. horizontally with his sword, knocking him down an sending him head first into the sand.

"Always remember to be ready for any counter because some enemies are able to read movements well; you can also use that force against them. You can't even hear me..." Suddenly, the sky gets dark and multitudes of bombs crash down on the beach. _"Since it's only Dark Red and I in the area, they're clearly aiming at us!"_ Red looks up and grunts in frustration at what he sees. In the sky are the egg carrier, death egg, and the egg utopia. The Death Egg and Egg Utopia are far more higher. Egg-robos are launching from the egg carrier in massive numbers. "What the-Dark Red, we have to get out of here NOW!" Red approaches D.R. but out of nowhere a beam flies at light speed, right between them then the ground cracks and seperates them both. A big fire wall rises out off the crack, Red is about to leap but judged that it wouldn't be wise to. "Damn it, DARK RED, GET UP! _I dont think water will be enough to put out this fire!_" After that, Dark Red pulls his head out of the sand and looks around in confusion. The robots surrounds Red who draws a real sword.

"What's going on!?" shout D.R. in confusion.

"Dark Red, get to safety, I'll take these things down!" D.R. runs the other direction but then a floating Eggmobile abruptly lands in front of him, surprising him into falling over, and uses purple gas on him, paralyzing.

"Bro... I can't move...!" D.R. attempts to move but his muscles won't respond.

"DARK RED!" The robots begins hitting Red and they all surrounded him, beating him up.

"Everything went black after that but I know Eggman turned my brother into what he is." said Red with a grim look on his face as he placed his weapon back in its holster.

"No doubt about it!" said Flare as she flickers fire on her finger.

"YOU'RE AN IDIOT, YOU SHOULD'VE STOOD BY YOUR BROTHER AND JUMP THROUGH THE FIRE!" shouts Shadow.

"THE HEAT OF THE FLAME WAS VERY INTENSE, WHAT ELSE COULD I DO!?" Red snaps.

"WELL...uh...okay, you're right."

"Thank you but enough of the chit-chat, we need to get out of here before-"

"Before I or the Eggman empire finds you?"said the real D.R. who is riding a motorcycle that has no wheels but can hover.

"No! Not now out of all times!" grunts Flare.

"Damn it!" shouts Shadow

"Not everyone can be happy, ya know." D.R. hovers to a stop on the island and sees Red who stares intensely. "For instance, I'm not happy that you two are alive and you've brought a friend with ya! We don;t like outsiders in our lovely exclusive Robotnikland!" D.R. claps his hands and an energy square barrier covers the whole island, preventing any escape. "I'm gonna love this!"


	14. Against the Enemy

Chapter 14: Against the Enemy

Meanwhile, on Angel Island with Silver.

Silver is hovering over the steps of the shrine using a jet pack. Knuckles is sitting there sleeping.

"There's red boy now!" Silver throws a ball of compressed wind which knocks Knuckles off guard and sends him almost off the edge of the shrine. "Heh. That is for calling me a loser!" Silver lands and wraps his arm around the M.E. and activates his jet pack. "Hardly worth the effort but if Eggo really wants this..."

"Oh no you don't!" shouts Knuckles. "Take THIS!" A bolt of lightning strikes Silver in the face and he falls hard on his back; the emerald lands on him so it doesn't break. "Give that back and leave my island or I'll make you regret ever coming here!" Silver rolls the M.E. off himself and stands up.

"I'll fight you for it, punk!"

Meanwhile, N is out cold floating on her back onto a ledge in an underground waterway. Someone nearby is throwing pieces of stone at her.

Peck, peck peck.

"Ouch!" said N as she opens her eyes and holds her head. "Oh! I'm alive!" She positions herself to normal she looks around and sees a pink skinny hedgehog in a rusted cage, her brown robe is torn a lot and ragged and she only has one shoe.

"Please, let me out of here..." the girl pleads in a sorrowful tone. N quickly looks around but no key in sight.

"Damn, no key..." The girl sits down with tears in her eyes. "Stand back." BANG! N draw her pistol and shoots the rusty lock off. RAAAAANG RAAAAANG RAAAAANG RAAAAANG! "Oh sh-oof!" N gets cut off by the hedgehog jumping on her. "Hey, I know you're happy but-!" N stands up but the hedgehog will not let go.

"Carry me, I-I-I can't walk!" N checks her ammunition; still good. She begins to running. Red flashing lights are everywhere. Robot boats appear on the water and open fie at the sight of N.

_"Damn, what did I get myself into? She's slowing me down but I can't leave her here let alone get shot, she looks like she can't take a bullet too well."_ N points her gun backwards and blindly returns fire. The girl, is frightened by loud noises, grips on N tightly, throwing her aim off even worse. Ahead, more boats lie in wait but unlike the ones giving chase, they're unarmed. The side N is on ran out of ground so she leaps from boat to boat while dodging most shots. She lets out a cry as she gets shot two times in the leg and thighs; she doesn't let that slow her down. They finally reached the opposite side of the tunnel and manage to evade the first wave of pursuers, however, more boats appear from hidden rooms within the walls "You've gotta be kidding!". A loud-speaker echoes through the passages.

"Bots! Don't let the intruder escape! Destroy that person by ANY means necessary!" said Eggman's voice. The robots machine guns replaced themselves with gatling guns.

"To hell with you, Eggman!" BANGBANGBANGBANG! N runs as fast as she can with a slight limp, each bullet tearing large chunks of the walls near her. N grips the girl tightly and jumps on one of the boats. Another boat tries to take advantage and fires but N front flips over that boat and onto the one behind it. Once again the unarmed boats appear but this time it has 3 second time bombs implanted on them. "Diabolus ex machina much..." She leaps really quick over from boat to boat. The explosion from previous boats caused waves that make the surface of the next boat slippery and for the fact that her leg is in lots of pain due to the wound made it worse. "How long can you hold your breath?"

"A good while I think..."

"Good enough for me!" N forces the girl off of her and tosses her surprisingly light body into the water and collapses from the pain. "Now I can die without regret..." N braces for the impact of the explosion that's going to take her life. The girl quickly rises from the water.

"? FLASH!" The first part of what she says is blocked by her splashing in the water. The time bomb on the boat stops exactly at 00"01 with a pink aura surrounding it. N slowly opened her eyes.

"What in the world?"

"Get away, hurry!" She struggles to her feet and leaps off the boat and BOOOOOOOOOOOOM! She jumps off and into the water in time. N slowly swims to the girl.

"You have powers, kid?"

"Kid? I'm not a kid." said the girl as water drips down her face. "I'm Amy Rose." N sits in thought for a moment, the name seemed familiar.

"The same one from downtown?" Amy nods.

With Silver and Knuckles.

Knuckles and Silver are bruised up but show no signs of giving up.

"As fun as it's been, I gotta get back so I can get some assignments worth doing. Hand over the damn emerald! It's not like a loser like you is doing anything with it anyway!" Silver shouts.

"I'm suppose to protect it, ever heard of the word 'protect'!?" Knuckles shouts back. Both let out battle cries and punch each other in the face and jump back. Knuckles throws a Thunder Arrow, Silver blocks and uses a gust of wind to knock Knuckles over and then leaps up. "Your mistake, take this!" Knuckles makes a thunder arrow land on Silver, cutting off his mid-air leap and knocking him down. Silver lands on his hands and spins rapidly, kicking up a tornado and sucking Knuckles in. "Damn, he's stubborn!" Knuckles punches the ground hard enough to create a fissure; the cracks heads toward Silver who levitates and moved the tornado closer. With quick thinking, Knuckles opened up his dreads, letting the wind carry him towards the tornado. Silver, annoyed, dispels the tornado and kicks Knuckles in the face. Knuckles lands hard on his read and gets up only for Silver to uppercut him into the air.

"WIND CUTTER!" Silver throws a clear crescent shaped gust that slashes harshly through Knuckles back leaving a nasty slash mark. Knuckles recovers in mid-air and drill claws Silver into the ground while punching him hard in the face until finally...CRACK! He assumes he broke Silver's skull. Silver just laid there, motionless, his eyes fixed on the sky. Knuckles stops and closed his eyes.

"I didn't want it to come to that but it's my duty as a guardian. You were warned." He goes back in front of the M.E. and rest. Tikal's spirit ball suddenly appears and waves wildly around him before flying off.

"What!?" Knuckles looks at the spot where Silver laid only to see a crack in the ground. He looks all around but no sign of Silver.

"You're such an asshole that you weren't even planning on giving me a proper burial?" said Silver. Knuckles turned around but WACK! He is hit hard in the face and tumbles down the stairs and lands on his face. It was a powerful hit but he sucks it up and struggles to his feet. "That's quite a damn shame, here I thought we were having so much fun together!"

"How are you not dead? I shattered your skull." growled Knuckles as he gets into a pose.

"Wha-wha-what? You're not THAT strong! I held back just for fun! If you're talking about that crack noise then yeah you did that but that was the ground behind me, not me. I'll admit it did daze the crap outta me. I gotta give you disproportionate payback by taking your life for that.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you talk to much, bring it on!"

"HA! Look at the difference in where we are standing!" Silver nods his head towards the M.E.

"NO!" Silver turns to the emerald.

"If this thing really is as powerful Eggman _("So Eggman has something to do with this?"_ thought Knuckles.) says, then I can get a major with this!" Knuckles runs at Silver. "HERE GOES!" Silver touches the emerald and yells out-loud while energy surrounds him. Knuckles shields himself from the blinding energy surging into the silver hedgehog but the intense force knocks him back down the stairs. Knuckles shakes off the pain and looks up.

"I'm too late!" Hovering over the emerald is a golden hedgehog with silver eyes and a white aura surrounding him.

"Aw yeah! THIS FEELS AWESOME! So, you got any request before you keel over in your grave?"

"Me? What about you?" Silver cracks his knuckles.

"Heh, I was being generous too. I'll make sure this is painful."

Meanwhile, with Shadow and Flare.

Shadow and Flare leap opposite ways as D.R. tries to ram them with the bike. Shadow reaches for his weapon but realizes it's gone.

"Looking for this?" taunts D.R. as he hovered really high and waves the black Magnum.

"Hey, give that back or-"

"Heheheh!"

"What's so funny!?"

"You can't do a damn thing to me, especially from this height but if this weapon means so much to you..." D.R. throws it to Shadow at full force and knocks Shadow on the head.

"Now I'm pissed-HEY!" BOOM! A rocket drops near Shadow; the vehicle is equipped with a small rocket launcher. Boom!Boom!Boom! D.R. fires several of them, each missing everyone by a lot but hitting the island. "Try aiming?"

"He purposely missed." grumbles Red who was just sitting there calmly. "This platform is fragile, if enough missiles hit it, we're going to sink!"

"We gotta finish him before then." Flare says as she create two fire balls on her hand.

"Don't waste you time, he's a water and ice element, he'll douse the flames." D.R. fires another rocket but this time, actually aiming for Shadow. Shadow dodges it but the pressure of the explosion, flips him over. Red observes as he sees something that no one else has. "Hmm, if you two think more clearly then you could beat Dark Red in seconds."

"What do you mean?" Flare then focuses on the back side of D.R.'s vehicle. "Oh, the gas tank!"

"I'm on it!" shouts Shadow as he leaps towards D.R.'s vehicle head-on. D.R. catches him by the collar. "..."

"You give us hedgehogs a bad name, grandpa!" sneers D.R., his icy cold breath blowing in Shadow's face.

"I dunno about other hedgehog but I'm several tiers about you...young 'n!"

"SHADOW, MOVE!" shouts Flare as she aims her magnum. Shadow tries to struggle but only to get his neck grasped by D.R..

"Go ahead, Flare, take the shot! I DARE you, HAHAHA!" D.R. taunts as he tosses Shadow up, before he falls past the vehicle, D.R. grabs his in a chokehold. "Each time I twist his head, I come closer to snapping his neck and he'll di-" BANGBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM! D.R. looks back to see his gas tank on fire. "DAMN IT, WHO'S RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS!?" Red calmly withdraws his gun. "Red, you should've MINDED YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS!" Sploosh! D.R. releases Shadow into the polluted waters and tries to steer the motorcycle up but he too plunges into the water. Whoosh! Suddenly the water bursts into flames and spreads instantly through the entire forest.

"Shadow!" Red grabs Flare's wrist. "Hey, what are you-"

"We've got to get outta here, the flames will engulf this entire forest." Red says as he begin running across the water.

"But Shad-"

"WE HAVE NO TIME, LET'S GO!" Red and Flare dart off as the flames rapidly spread.

N and Amy are walking through the passageway now clear of any enemy robots.

"Sonic, he really is dead...isn't he?" asks Amy sadly. N slowly nods while tending her bullet wounds.

"Honestly, I think there hope is slim but..." N replaces a clip of her pistol. "It doesn't mean we should give up the fight." Amy stares quietly at the ground. N's stomach began to growl. "I guess we need something to eat."

"No, not scrap again!" says Amy dramatically as she sat against the wall. "I haven't had good food in such a long time..." N thought for a moment.

"Glad to see you can walk. If you want real food, we're gonna have to do something extremely dangerous." Amy stood in thought for a moment.

"It can't get any worst can it? Why not? It'll be like adventuring with Sonic!"

"All right, I assume we're under the Egg Fortress, right? We can bust in there and start blasting but you don't have a weapon...ugh."

"Don't worry, this hammer hits hard." She reveals her piko piko hammer.

"It won't do much against guns but screw it, let's MOVE!" Amy and N sprint ahead.

With Eggman.

"Tails, what's the status of the intruders underground?" asks Eggman to Tails who's shining his boots.

"Two intruders have en-t-t-ter underground and are destroying any robot in their path." said Tails meekly.

"Bah! Another pocket of resistance!? Doesn't everyone know that Sonic is dead! I'M UNSTOPPABLE!" Tails attempted to respond to that but held it back out of fear. "Hmm, since Dark Red and Silver are out I have no other choice...let me crush their will! Fox boy, summon Sonic!" Tails' ears perked up. "HAHAHA! I meant METAL Sonic!" Fear struck Tails' heart when he heard that name, thinking about that robot in particular made him cringe. He walks into a room filled with many different Metal Sonics ranging from incompleted to apparent prototypes, varying sizes and accessories attached; the sight off all of them gave him the shivers. He takes an escalator to one lonely tube in the room: Metal Sonic's. Tails hesitantly presses the opening button and the lights in the room become bright as the glass around the metal hedgehog slowly lowers. Tails watches it with awe. When the glass finally lowered completed, Metal's eyes shined as if awakened. Tails was now staring into the eyes of his mortal enemy, the one who defeated Sonic. Metal slowly climbs out of the tube and walks slowly towards Tails who trips in an attempt to back away. Each step Metal took towards him, Tails' fear rises and heart beats faster until finally, he wet his pants and whimpers. Metal scanned him.

"Long time no see, Tails!" said Metal Sonic. "I have been summoned by the great Dr. Robotnik then?" Tails is too scared to answer. "Your fear in me is not misplace, let's go!" Metal picks up the fear-stricken Tails and boosts off.


	15. Combination

Chapter 15: Combination

The loud roar from Metal Sonic's boost is heard even from the sewers.

"What was that?" Amy asks.

"Let's go check it out" replied N. The duo climbs a nearby ladder.

Metal Sonic and Tails arrive in the top of the Egg Fortress where Eggman is waiting.

"Metal Sonic!" he shouts gleefully. "Glad to see you have awakened!" Metal Sonic drops Tails down; he lets out a small grunt upon impact, lands elegantly and approaches Eggman. "How do you like the new voice box I gave you?"

"It works fine, Master. What was I summoned for?" asks Metal Sonic.

"It was lucky that the rebel from the previous encounter only damaged your voice box instead of any vital circuits. Once again we have some pests trying to ruin our great plans for the world and knowing the way you defeated Sonic, this shouldn't be a problem."

"I'm on it!" Metal jumps on the elevator. "Where are they located?"

"Wait!" Metal looks back. "I have a present for you. An upgrade." Eggman grins.

Meanwhile, Silver and Knuckles continue their fight.

"Changing forms doesn't scare me!" shouts Knuckles as he rushes at Silver and uppercuts him. Silver falls and lands flat on his back. Knuckles jumps and starts to come down and grunts, annoyed. Silver isn't hurt or scratched, he just lays smiling with his hands behind his head relaxing. Knuckles lands and smashes him in the gut but Silver doesn't let out a grunt. "What?" Silver gets up.

"Is it my turn yet, punk?" Silver asks with a yawn. Knuckles holds back his astonishment and pounds him with a barrage of punches then pulls back and throws another punch but Silver grabs his wrist.

"Damn!" growls Knuckles as he tries to break free of Silver's grip. Silver smiles.

"You're having way too much fun. Let me try!" Silver slowly raises him up and hurls him directly into the stairs and with a loud crash sends debris and rubble everywhere. Silver then floats into the air and waits for the cloud of smoke to disappear. Inside, Knuckles is thinking.

"Geez, he's super, there's no way I can keep this up for long! Gotta think of something..." The smoke almost clears so Knuckles sees Silver's silhouette in the air waiting. "I got it! Thunder Arrow!" Silver spots it but too late and gets hit directly in the face with it, dazing him.

"...UGH" Knuckles then leaps really high and bashes Silver hard enough to drive him into the ground. Knuckles then dashes for the M.E. but in a blink of an eye, Silver appears on top of it.

"Yeah, that's not happening, punk!" With a loud grunt, Silver uppercuts Knuckles and send him high soaring into the air. Silver then teleports in front of Knuckles and smashes an energy ball into his face, sending him reeling back downwards. Knuckles lands with a terrifying thud and cracks the ground under him rendering him unconscious. Silver slowly floats to the ground and walks over to him. "Aww cmon, this is the first time I used my super form in ages and you're already done? I just began using energy too... Sad and pathetic, red boy. Ya know, I'm surprised you didn't shed any blood; let's fix that." Silver points his finger at Knuckles and starts peppering him with thin energy blasts that pierces through the helpless echidna. The under-side of the island shows the energy blasts are going through the Knuckles and coming out of the island. "This is boring, I should make this more fun, GET UP NOW!" Silver starts stomping hard on the helpless echidna's chest but no response. "Get up now or you and your island will perish..." No response or even a sign of movement. Silver angrily fires another thin shot that pierced right through Knuckles heart, causing blood to squirt out like a minituare fountain. "Oh, I wonder if he died before or after that last shot. Oh well, he's a disgrace anyway, now if you'll excuse me, I'll be taking my prize!" Silver floats up to the glowing emerald and picks it up and flies off. "Wait a sec!" Silver looks back at the island. "I dunno if I'll ever get the chance to use this power again. Lemme not waste this!" Silver hurls the emerald high into the air. He places both hand out and massive amounts of energy flow into them. "CHAOS BLAST - WIND FORCE!" The transparent blue and gray sphere of energy heads slowly towards the island. Knuckles barely manages to open one eye to look at it. The light in his eye rapidly fading.

"It's...over..." he said with his last breath then closes his eyes. The energy slowly crushes Knuckles until it fully engulfs him ripping the ground and implanting itse;f into the island, after a few second it explodes with the power and devastation of a nuclear bomb, evaporating him, and the island while creating a huge ball of light expanding out from where the island once stood.

"HAHAHA! WHOA LOOK AT THAT, I AM AWESOME! HAHAHAHA!" Silver catches the emerald and happily blasts off toward the Egg Fortress. However, unbeknownst to him, a small green piece falls from the emerald and is caught be a pink spehre of light that floats away to the sky.

Meanwhile Red and Flare are on a far-off beach; 9:55 PM

"Shadow..." cries Flare as she looks at the metallic forest they escaped from which was now sinking and on fire and exploding in some spots. She looks at Red who has only a straight face. "You..." She points her black Magnum at him but he only lifts up one finger, signaling her to wait. "Huh...!? Grr..."

"I sense something coming from that island!" Flare puts her finger on the trigger. "You can shoot if you want, but the bullet won't hit me" BANG! Just like what Red said, the bullet didn't hit him. A slow motion replay that shows Red turned water and after the bullet passed through, he returned to normal. "Just like Dark Red, I can become water or ice." Red still has his eyes fixed on the fiery water.

"Why didn't you let me go save Shadow!?"

"How come you tried to kill me before asking that question? Had I died, you'd never have your answer. Then what?"

"I...-!"

"The bike my brother was on will have sinked Shadow in faster, if you dived in, you wouldn't reach him in time and if you did reach him, you would've died on the way back up rendering your rescue pointless." Flare stood speechless. A bright flash occurs in the sky far off, Flare and Red look up to see a ball of light expanding as some pieces fall into the water.

"Was that an explosion?"

"That's the least of our worries right now."

"What!?" Red points to where the fire is. The fire was sizzling out rapidly. "That's good isn't it?" The water then flashes and something leaps out incredibly high and lands on the water without sinking through it. "No, how the hell could he have survived that?"

"Something is wrong. Very wrong..." The figure begins walking closer and closer. As it gets closer, Flare could make out that the figure is a male burgundy hedgehog with extremely long black spikes down to his ankles. The hedgehog leaps up and lands on the beach, kicking up lots of sand. "So that's why your energy felt off. When I heard you joined Eggman I heard you've done some pretty despicable things but I never knew you would stoop so low..."

"Red?" asks Flare.

"I don't know what you're talking about... Brother, right?" said the hedgehog slowly. His voice sounds like D.R. bit with a hint of Shadow as well.

"You did a force fusion, didn't you?" asks Red coldly. The hedgehog shrugs. "ANSWER ME!"

"If I recall it's a taboo to use it against our family. But, you taught me this technique, right?" Red angrily runs at the hedgehog but he disappears. Red runs in another direction.

"Face me!" The hedgehog appears right in front of him. Red jump kicks the hedgehog in the face, after he lands, he run and dishes out a barrage of punches in the gut and the uppercuts him. The hedgehog stood there, recoiling and then slowly turns back to Red and smirked evilly. "I'm guessing my hits didn't even faze you." The hedgehog nodded calmly. "Well that's too bad because I wasn't trying to hurt you. If you're truly my kin you'd have known to block all those hits a certain way instead of taking them! What are you!?"

"An adversary." The hedgehog runs at Red with amazing speed and cross-chops him into the air. He jumps and meets Red in the air and whispers in his ear. "And your nightmare." He open palm strikes Red in the center of his chest with a small burst of yellow energy and send him back down into the beach. Red weakly getson one knee and catches his breath as the hedgehog lands. "I hope you'll forgive me brother." Red didn't respond. "If it isn't a taboo to the empire then it isn't a taboo to me."

"Damn you." said Red as he falls unconscious. The hedgehog turns to Flare and smiles.

"Since Red failed to introduce us, you can call me..." The hedgehog sit thinking for a moment. "Huh, I need to start thinkign of a name first when I do this. Simply call me Fusion." Flare looked confused.

"I...I don't get it..."

"I am a fusion of Shadow and D.R., I have both of their abilities but more powerful and some of my own. I guess you can say I'm both of them and neither one, if that makes any sense."

"..."

"Hm. Don't think too hard about it. I'm still under the good doctor's orders." Fusion lifts his hands up and battleaxe with electricity on the edges appear out of a bright light. "Prepare to defend yourself!" Fusion gets into a battle stance.

"...Shadow..." Flare gets into a defense pose.

Back at the Egg Fortress.

"Ok, Tails, hit the switch you pathetic little boy!" said Eggman. Tails pulls a lever down and a machine door open with lots of smoke coming out. "Come on, Metal, we haven't got all day so skip the dramatics." Out steps a pair of gold plated shoes, the view goes up to show Metal Sonic with shiny golden armor and more sharper eyes and an actual mouth. "HAHAHAHAHA! Yes, it came out just the way I planned! Show me your railgun!" Metal's right arm becomes a big cannon with two metal rods at the end. An electric orb began to form between them. "Wait! Don't fire! Go to the training room, we'll decide what to do from there." Metal turned around and boosted off at the speed of light, shaking the room also and knocking Eggman's shades off. Eggman grins. "Heh, if all went as planned then Metal Sonic should be a one hedgehog army against the rebels, eh Tails?" Tails just stand there thinking as Eggman leaves. A half smile on his face before he sighs and follows.


	16. Defused

Chapter 16: Defused

N and Amy climb out of the sewers and find themselves in a cargo area.

"...we're still in the Egg Fortress." said Amy while walking around.

"You know this area?" asks N as she covers the manhole.

"It's one of the many routes I get taken when I'm moved around." Unknown to them, a camera is watching.

Egg Fortress Security Room.

"Boss Egg, I've spotted the ones in the sewer, they're in the weapons bay, should I take care of them personally or send your bots on them?" said a female voice, a strong Russian accent. The light only shows a muzzle, the rest of the face is hidden but the eye color is yellow.

"Show me the visuals." Eggman replies over the speaker. The person transfers the visual data. "Amy, huh? I don't understand why Dark Red keeps her around. That woman with her seems familiar too." Clicking noises are heard on Eggman's side. "Ah, an agent of the president...? I thought I wiped them all out. This certainly won't do! Merciless, you are to dispose of them however you see fit! Remember that you still have you obligations to the empire."

"Yeah, will do sir." said Merciless as she stands up and leaves.

"I've been through here so many times but I've never known what are in these boxes" said Amy as she rummages through some of the cargo. She pulls out a pistol resembling the ones that Egg-robos carry. BANG! She fires the weapon in the air and the laser creates a large burn mark in the ceiling. "Whoa..."

"They seem to still have ammo. I can steal these and we'll have enough firepower to take on the empire! If you don't mind Amy, I want to backtrack through the sewer backs to my base so I can store these." said N. BANG! Out of nowhere, a bullet hit one of the pistols N reached for causing her to jump back in surprise. Merciless, who is one top of one of the cargo boxes, places her pistol back in its holder and unstraps a rather over-sized futuristic-looking rifle from her back. She is a gray fox, medium build and dark yellow eyes.

"I'm denying that request." states Merciless as she raises the rifle. N and Amy glare at her. "I don't know what you're trying to prove by sneaking into the Egg Fortress but you should've known nothing good can come of it."

"One of Eggman's mooks I take it?"

"I am Merciless, a rifleman of the Eggman empire, I am under orders to kill both of you..." She points to N. "You especially!"

"Me!?" asks N in surprise. Not taken any chances, she aims the pistol and fire. Bang! Merciless leans her head to the left and the bullet hits the over head steam pipes, The steam doesn't bother Merciless. "Damn it. Move it, Amy!" N and Amy dives behind boxes opposite of one another.

"Those aren't steam pipes. They're coolants; harmless to anyone in mist from, thanks for the nice breeze though." Merciless aims her rifle and instead of an infrared beam coming out, it's a green light. "This rifle, is capable of delivering damaging shots even if the opponent isn't directly hit by the laser. It's major downside is this green light indicates exactly where it'll hit. It'll be pretty fun for you girls 'til my shots land!" Merciless jumps down and slowly steps to where N is hiding while aiming the rifle. Do something silly like sticking your head out the corner so I can blow it off, I need a good laugh today." N back away from the light and makes her way around the opposite side of the box.

_"She's leaving her back wide open, I can attack from there!"_ Upon reaching the other side N quickly takes time to aim at Merciless' head. BANG! Merciless leaps to the side to dodge the bullet and about-faces to N. Now in the center of the green light, N shields her eyes due to the sudden brightness.

"Too obvious, farewell!" PUEW! Merciless fires the rifle, out comes a blue laser and large to dodge and N is still shielding her eyes.

Meanwhile.

Fusion dashes across the sand left and right lands while slamming the large axe down hard and kicking sand up high and making Flare nervous. The fearsome hedgehog quickly dashes through one of the bursts of sand he kicks up kicks her hard enough in the mid-section to send her reeling backwards. Flare, winded, lies on the floor in pain.

"Huh, I expected a bit more than a single kick to wind you, Flare." said Fusion as he slowly walks to her. "I was hoping you'd pull something out of your ass to hurt me but you stood there trembling like a scared child. Boring." Fusion raises his axe over her and builds up his strength. Flare seizes the opportunity to kicks him in the legs, tripping him over. Fusion hand springs backwards and lands on his feet. Flare quickly gets on her feet and puts her fist up. "Don't you have a weapon? Lost your gun?" Fusion dispels his axe. "I'll kill you with my hands then, should be alright as long as you die." Flare runs up to him and attempts to uppercut him but he blocks and elbows her backwards. He leaps incredibly high and goes into ball mode and homes in on Flare.

_"The homing attack!"_ Flare thought to herself. Flare spin dashes and when Fusion comes into contact, he bounces back and lands flat on his rear. Flare releases her spin dash right at close range on the fusion hedgehog, he quickly guards with the palms of both of his hands but her spikes tear up his gloves. She then gets on top of him and starts pounding on his face. "D.R.! Release Shadow NOW!" POW! She pounds him across the face hard enough to leave his face red.

"I thought I told you that I am a fusion of both meaning I'm both at once or neither one." POW! "Ow!"

"If you really are a part of Shadow, you'd stop!"

"How would you know what Shadow wants." POW! "He's too weak to share my mind. I guess it's very obvious I'm still D.R., huh?" POW! POW! POW! Fusion put on an annoyed face but then changes it back to normal. "Funny, you haven't taken into consideration that you might be hurting Shadow too." Flare gets annoyed. **POW!** She punches him harder. "OOOOHHH...!

"If it'll free him, I don't care."

"You're not even sure of that, I can tell by your expression."

"Shut up!" **POW!**

"Aaargh! Heh... speaking of freedom, what do you think you're doing straddling me?"

"I'm keeping you from moving until you free Shadow." Fusion opens his hands.

"Two free hands, I can still use water you know, Ms. Flare." Seeing this, Flares quickly grabbed both of his wrist and pins them to the ground, Fusion begins to sweating. "OK, I give up, you win."

"I don't believe you."

"Actually it's your legs..."

"My legs?"

"Your legs...they're burning me up, a fire element's body normally heats up when they're angry. Aargh! Get off."

"NO!" Flare is speechless. _"This guy's been doing his research but how come I never noticed I do this before. I know I can flare up when angry but that's normally within my control."_ thought Flare to herself.

"Look, I don't have time for this. You captured me, now what?"

"I ...-"

"Grr, it's a waste of my time." He rolls her over and now they've switch. "Gotcha!" Fusion summons his axe while strangling her with one hand. "It's nothing personal, believe me, Flare."

"How are you so...?" Flare tried, shocked at his strength.

"No more talk." Fusion raises his axe.

_"I gotta try fire!"_ She breathes in as deeply as she possibly can. Fusion notices.

"Uh oh..."

"HHHAAA-AAAAAA!" Flare exhales an enormous fire beam which covers Fusion's whole body. He just looks burnt and wide-eyed, not moving. The pressure is so great that Fusion is slowly lifted into the air. Suddenly, a quick burst of fire power launches through the fire and hits Fusion causing a blinding explosion. Flare stops, panting and gasping for air. Two figures fall from where Fusion stood and land in the sand.

"F-FI-NA-LLY!" shouts Shadow shakily. "WHAT THE HELL TOOK YOU SO LONG!?" Flare tried to speak in defense but is too exhausted; she collapses.

"Bah!" shouts D.R. angrily as he wobbles to his feet. "A powerful, unexpected attack; that caused the defusion. I'll just finish you all right here!" He cups his hands an a white ball of energy appears.

"MOVE OUT THE WAY!" shouts Red. When he regained consciousness is unknown. "It's a Hedgehog Beam, get out the way!" Flare tried but couldn't move. "Dang, she's too tired..."

Meanwhile.

"? FLASH!" shouts Amy as she leaps in front of N, the loudness of the laser making the first part of what she said unclear. The attack freezes dead in its tracks. Amy pulls N out of the way and behind another large box. BOOM! When time returns to normal the attack lands in the back of the room leaving a small flaming crater spot.

"What the hell!?" shouts N, surprised. Amy quickly covers N's mouth and gestures her to follow.

"So, that hedgehog with you isn't ordinary, huh!?" Merciless shouts. She slowly moves around the room while aiming her rifle down corridors. In response the duo quietly move out of the way. "You couldn't have dodged that shot, human. I know I had you!"

"We'll have to double team her." Amy whispers.

"That weapon she carries is a pain because of that light on top. Clearly it's meant to blind or disorient so it's risky to try and take her on once you're in sight." N whispers back.

"Did you try from behind?"

"Yeah. I missed, I'll try again. If I screw up, I'll try to talk and distract her so you can attack from behind."

"Me!? I-...OK, I'll try my best."

"Hide quickly if you screw up!" The two split up while evading her and N manages to get behind Merciless again. Once again she takes aim. BANG! Merciless jumps to the side again and about-faces but this time N hurries behind cover before she gets blinded.

"What's the point of trying to shoot me when you're going to miss!?" taunts Merciless. "I'll give you a hint, I'm a fox. My hearing is better than I let on. I heard you two whispering clear as day. I also can hear your both of your heartbeats." N and Amy are shocked by this. "Ha! Like now, I heard a skip in both of your hearts!" N quickly jumps from cover and fires 3 shots at Merciless, she dodges them all. N dives back to cover and crawls around. "I'm not new to combat, I know how the heart sounds when someone is about to shoot or is taking aim." Merciless trails N while Amy is getting into place behind the gray fox. "I'm not opposed to firing through the boxes to kill you but I don't want to risk an explosion that can kill me too." Amy stops and starts rummaging through the boxes.

"That, I would love to see!" N jumps between boxes; Merciless swerves around a corner and almost catches sight of N. "I bet you can't move fast since that gun is so heavy!"

"Believe it or not but I don't mind this game of hide and seek you both are playing with me! This is highlight of my day!"

"Trying to kill others is a past time to you? Sounds like a nice life I'm glad you don't have children, they's probably be pretty screwy if you're anything to go by." Merciless grits her teeth and jumps on top of a box.

"How dare you!" She jumps and lands a fair distance from N; enough give her room to shoot. She quickly fires but N dives out the way. Merciless jumps on the box and jumps and lands in front of N again.

"Ugh!" PUEW! N leaps behind another box before she fires. The shot misses. "Huh, I hit a nerve?"

"Don't you dare talk like you know me!" While all of this is going on, Amy spent her time looking through boxes and grins when finds something. N, evades Merciless from box to box and finally encounters Amy. Amy whispers something into N's ear and she smirks.

"Nice, I'll give it a shot." Amy runs and hides behind a box and waits. N makes her way to a certain box and stands out in the open. "Why wield something so heavy if you can't hit with it?" Merciless turns to her.

"Haha! Wow, you really chose to do the stupid thing and expose yourself? Lemme guess, it's a distraction?" She aims her rifles around instead of at N. BANG! N fires but she dodges by jumping on another box. "I already told you-hm!" BANG! N fires again and she leans away to dodge. "You won't hit me. EVER! Wha!" She dodges to the side, Amy tries to hit her with her Piko hammer from behind and ends up flying past her. She lands next to N. _"I can kill them both in one shot!_ Bye!" PUEW! She quickly lifts her rifle and fires between them.

"AMY FLASH!" Time stops once again. Amy moves N far out the way and hurried back to the top of the box Merciless is on. She raises her hammer and time returns to normal. BOOMBOOMBOOM! The laser pierces the box behind where N and Amy stood and repeated explosions go off; shaking the entire room. Merciless watches in surprise.

"What the-UGH!" POW! Amy takes advantage and smacks Merciless in the box with the hammer and knocks her into the center of the explosions. N snatches Amy's arm and dashes through the only door out while Merciless screams of pain are muffled by the explosions going off.

"Nice going, Amy. Her overconfidence led her to fire at the box of grenades behind us." said N. I was a bit scared that she'd fire without thinking of the box.

"Heheh, I still would've saved you."

"I wonder why the comment about kids ticked her off so much."

They dash through the halls until the come upon a large room with a huge sphere glass that sparkles with a huge amount of energy whiles sitting on some machinery. The room resembles a giant missile silo. Robots are working on it and moving about.

"Whoa..." gasps Amy as she walks over to the railing over looking it. "I wonder what this is..." N glances at all the wiring set around the place which seemed to power the orb. The all seem to come from the outside.

"It makes sense now..." said N as she joins Amy.

"Hm? What makes sense?"

"But why would he need so much energy?"

"What is it?"

"This is what everyone in the city is working for. They're charging this machine."

"HAHA! So you figured it out eh?" said someone from the level above. N and Amy look up and gasp.


	17. The Machine

Chapter 17: The Machine

"I am so thrilled that you were able to get this far into my fortress! I'm impressed, I must say!" said Eggman as he claps happily and lowers his Eggmobile.

"Explain yourself!" growls N as she raises her pistol. "NOW!"

"HAHAHA! What do you expect that toy to do? I assure you that the bullets will not reach me. You can give it a shot-" BANG!...Zip! Clink! N fires a shot and bullet whizzes in another direction and sent it into a support beam. "See? You didn't expect it to be that easy did you!?"

"Damn...!" N grunts in frustration.

"My subordinate should've taken care of both of you. It seems she's as useless as ever!"

"She's cooked and so are you once I figure out how to kill you!" BANG BANG BANG! ZIP! ZIP! ZIP! She fires but the shots get repelled again.

"Since you bothered to come all of this way, without dying, unfortunately, I suppose I'll reward you with an explanation." Eggman floats over to the machine and turns back to N and Amy. "I had this beauty planned from the beginning, over 11 years ago!"

_"One year before the take over...?"_ Amy thought to herself.

"Sonic, the stupid blue blur, the heart of all my problems, the one who always 'saved the world' was always spoiling my plans! I soon realized my mistake: I rarely had back-up plans! So, for once I had the genius idea of creating a fake Metal Sonic to distract the blue rodent and WHAM! The real one delivers the final blow just as soon as Sonic thought he had his victory over the false one... Ah, AHEM, I got a bit off-topic there. I used to capture animals and place them into machines for use on my projects. However, there is a limit to how long the animal would survive in those machine so I enslaved humans and anthrops, fed them enough to keep them going and used their labor to help gather the ultimate power in the form of energy!"

"And what are you planning on using it for, huh!?" asks N furiously.

"I was getting to that! I plan on transporting my very being into an ultimate weapon, a machine with the power to rule the entire planet. It won't run on electricity. No it'll run on something even better: PURE CHAOS ENERGY!" shouts Eggman as he bangs on the Eggmobile. "I need the most powerful of chaos energy, not just from any anthrop but energy that only the best of anthrops can harness! If I can gather enough of it from one and harness it into my machines and myself I'd be unstoppable!"

"Chaos energy...?" asks N, confused. Eggman smirks at her reply.

"It doesn't surprised me that you don't know what it is, not many humans know about it. Many have seen its use but few know the name of it. Do you remember when Station Square was ruined by the monster known as Chaos?"

"Y...yes..."

"And I'm sure everyone has heard of the ARK event!"

"...Shadow...wait, SHADOW!"

"That phenomenon in which you seen them transform was the result of chaos energy."

"If I understand you, which I don't, you're trying to become a god."

"That depends on what you think a god is!"

"..."

"Is a god a human, a monster?"

"I don't have an answer and I don't care!"

"Is it someone who wields very powerful chaos energy?"

"I said I-" Eggman focuses his attention to Amy and hovers around them.

"Maybe you know something about it right, Amy?"

"I...I don't know anything about it." Amy shrieks.

"Tell me the TRUTH!"

"I don't know anything!"

"You lie! Most anthrops have knowledge of it, even the president knows a bit, so you MUST know something!"

"No, I DON'T!"

"You know EVERYthing about Sonic, you chase him a lot!"

"I..."

"Maybe the suffering of your friend here will get you to talk! I know you have the knowledge on how to use it and I WILL have it one way or another!" With that, Eggman speed his Eggmobile between them, knocking Amy over and N over the rail, lucky for her, it is a small drop and she lands on her legs and trips. "Worker robots, switch into attack mode and destroy that woman!" With that, all the robots dropped their equipment and started advancing towards N.

"Eggman! No!"


	18. Playing Games

Chapter 18: Playing games

The ball of light between D.R.'s hands changes from white to blue as he pours the maximum amount of energy into it.

"HEDGEHOG BEAM FULL POWER!" shouts D.R. as he thrusts his hands forward. With a roar, the beams rushes towards Flare who is still helplessly laying in the sand. As the beam heads towards her, the ground rips in its path. Red leaps in front of Flare and places both of his forward.

"CHAOS WARP!" shouts Red as he thrusts his hands forward. A clear wave pushes forwards and slows the beam to a stop, he then directs it to the sky where it explodes ina brilliant bright blue blast.

"Hmph! I had hoped I smashed you up enough to break your spirit, bro. You should've stayed down on the ground. It's where you belong."

"When you've been in battle as long as I have you tend to be able to gauge your opponents strength. You only used about a third of your power which seems surprisingly stronger than the last time we sparred."

"HAHA! Eggman has made me realized the true potential of my strength!"

"No Dark Red, **I **helped you realize your true potential, and you shouldn't be so happy about what I said. While you are undoubtedly stronger than before, your progress has apparently been slowed drastically. You should be far stronger than me by now or at least as strong as me. Eggman took advantage of me helping you unleash your strength and used it for his evil deeds and that has made you **TERRIBLE**."

"NO ONE TALKS TO ME LIKE THAT! YOU WANNA SEE HOW STRONG I AM!? GRAB A FRONT ROW SEAT CAUSE I'M ABOUT TO GIVE YOU A SHOW YOU'LL NEVER FORGET!" Furious, D.R. leaps and lands in front of Red, lots of sand kicks up upon landing. Red slowly backs up while blocking himself.

_"If he's as angry as I'm sensing, his power should've spiked right now... But nothing seems to have happened; what has Eggman done to him?"_

D.R. cocks his fist to attack and then... beep, beep, beep! D.R. has a watch communicator on his wrist going off.

"D.R., did you find the source of the problem?" asks Eggman.

"Yeah, it was my brother, he's no threat, trust me!" said D.R. with a smirk. Red knows it's an attempt to provoke him.

"Regardless, I need you to get here on the double!"

"Roger that, excuse me for questioning but why the rush?"

"Two fools have discovered the secret, I may need you to surprise attack them and dispose of them if things don't go as planned. I'm taking advantage of a commotion so that won't realize I'm calling for backup.

"All right, I'm on it." said D.R. as he shut his communicator off. He glances over at Red, then Shadow, and then Flare who is still on the ground, unconscious. "So pathetic, all of you... I believe if you all worked together you'd realize you have power than when alone." said D.R. in a surprisingly nice tone. He then shakes his head as if he just woke up and takes out his golden emerald. "Chaos Teleport!" In a bright flash, he disappear.

"Um...uh... What the hell was that about?" asks Shadow. Red didn't answer, he walks quietly over to Flare, kneels beside her and takes a copper-brown emerald from his vest.

"Bronze Heal." he mumbles as the emerald began to shiny brightly and Flares wounds heal. "Get up." Flare immediately awakens and looks at Red, surprised.

"What did you do to me?" she asks.

"Yeah, you healed her, are you some kinda magician?" asks Shadow. Red stands up.

"I came to Station Square with a mission and the events that have occurred so far since my arrival has me even more determined to finish it!" I have to defeat Eggman at all costs! said Red. He reaches one hand forward and dashes across the water, leaving an icy trail.

"I still don't trust him! He's D.R.'s brother and too ambiguous for me."

"Shadow, while I agree with your sentiment, I think I'll follow Red this time."

"What? Why?" Flare steps on the icy path and looks at the Robotnik Land which is clearly visible across the sea.

"We call ourselves fighting Eggman but so far it seems like he's just playing with us!"

"Please, if Sonic can easily defeat him then what makes you think we can't?" asks Shadow as he approaches Flare.

"The fight I had with you and Dark Red fused made me realize that we are only going in circles. Eggman could've done that a long while ago and got rid of us from the beginning! Imagine a nightmare scenario where D.R. and Silver fuse, they're both a pain on their own as it stands now."

"If what you say is true, then why hasn't he done it before, why didn't he do it from the beginning?"

"I don't know, but that's what were going to find out!"

Moments later.

"Dont worry, Amy! I'm still hanging strong!" said N as she fires her pistol hastily at the robots. The machines exploded with one or two shots but she would inevitably run short on ammo. Click! Click! Click! "Damn, I'm out of ammo!" With there still being a few more robots left she's now defenseless against them.

"Ho ho ho!" laughs Eggman stupidly. "Humans always seem to rely on the power of gun! However, that power is limited. Oh well, destroy her!" The machines advance on N who is still standing her ground. One of the robots grabs N by the neck and thrusts her across the platform. N slides uncontrollably to the wall and hits it with a loud thud. She quickly searches her pocket..

"Sorry... I still have more clips left!" N quickly empties the clip and replaces it with a fresh one. However, while she was doing this, a robot leaps high and grabs onto an overhead support beam. N quickly unloads the rest of her bullets and destroy the rest of them. She lets out a sigh and relaxes unaware of her last awaiting enemy.

"WATCH OUT!" shouts Amy as she points to the robot above her. At the exact moment, N looks up only to get smacked by a metal hand and sent sliding across the floor. The pistol she was holding slide to the other side of the room below where Amy is standing. The robot begins to whip N in the back so hard that you can hear the impact of each hit. N lets out a cry in agony as she tries to crawl away from the arm but then it coils around her waist and squeezes her with intense pressure.

"Worker bot, cease and standby!" shouts Eggman. He lowers his Egg mobile next to Amy. The robot is still holding N but not with a tight grip. She coughs and gasps for air. "Such pity isn't it, Ms. Rose? Your friend who risked her own life to save yours has to die over your stupidity!" Amy slowly drops to her knees and look to the ground, tears filling her eyes.

_"How can I tell him something that I only understand little of myself..."_ Amy thought.

"Well, Amy? Are you ready to tell me about chaos energy?"

"I-I-I dont know about chaos energy..." Eggman snaps his fingers and the robots arm squeeze tighter around N causing her to scream out in pain and go limp. Amy gasps. "Eggman...please stop! I really don't know."

"I'm pretty sure you know about the powers of the Chaos Emeralds at least."

"Yeah but only Sonic used them! I-I only tried to follow Sonic! Tails was always with-!" Amy gasps and quickly covers her mouth realizing her mistake.

"Tails, eh? You're right, I almost forgot everything about him!"

"NO! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Amy jumps to N's level picks up the pistol and BANG! fires at the robot N. The arm it had on N retractS and the robots head shines and then BOOOM! The explosion is powerful enough to tear apart a few platforms above them; lots of debris and parts from the robot rain down. Eggman chuckled menacingly.

"Computer, seal all doors on the lower levels and focus all heat energy in into this area!" commands Eggman as he presses some buttons. All the metal doors close. "It's sad that it had to end like this, right Amy? All it took was a little explaining and I would've spare everyone you loved! All of your friends and this foolish woman!" Amy glances at N who is motionless on the floor. "But instead of telling me yourself, you reminded me that I had the source all along...kudos to you! I won't outright kill you as planned; you'll just get a few more minutes before death instead." BANG BANG BANG! ZIP! ZIP! ZIP! Amy fires at Eggman but the bullets swerve in all the other directions. "Don't worry, unless you can use chaos energy you'll be fine, otherwise you can just BURN! HAHAHA!" Eggman laughs as he hovers to the upper levels of the room. Amy desperately searches for a way out.

"WARNING! WARNING! TEMPERATURE RISING! ALL NON-HEAT-RESISTANT PERSONNEL EVACUATE TO THE UPPER LEVELS!" Rings a security alarm throughout the area.

"Oh no..." gasps Amy.

Minutes later, Flare, Red and Shadow find themselves right in front of the Egg Fortress.

"Considering all the trouble I had entering this city, making it here with absolutely no resistance is partly unsettling." comments Red while staring up at the giant castle-like gate.

"You know what just hit me hard in the ass, Flare?" asks Shadow rashly. "Remember the power plant that was supposed to cut off the city's power? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!?"

"Beats me. At the time, I was more worried about T..." Shadow looks down at the ground. "If I were to guess, that plant only held power for a certain part of the city. Eggman has had a back up for everything lately so there are several more we would've had to blow up before we took the whole city down. "replied Flare.

"So I fought that prehistoric robot bastard and almost got killed FOR NOTHING!?"

"That is the harsh way of putting it..."

"What-the-HELL!? Listen, screw this whole thing! I'm outta here and back into my cell!" shouts Shadow as he turns around and walks away. "All the effort wasted; nothing to show for it... god damn!

"I don't think that's a an option anymore, Shadow! You're welcome to try, I won't stop you." Red turns to Flare.

"There are prisons here? Is that why this city has lost all contact from the outside? It makes sense now." he says.

"I have no choice but to see this through to the very end! I was joking anyway, just a bit pissed off is all." A fluttering noise is heard in the distance. "So...how are we gonna raid this place? Three against a million is not exactly the best odds in the world...unless we are talking about us fighting ants."

"Quiet, Shadow!" demands Red as he gestures Shadow for silence and looks back.

"WHAT DID I DO NOW!?"

"Hush, I think I hear something..." The fluttering noise gets louder.

"I hear it too." said Flare.

"I don't hear anything." complains Shadow as he looks around. "Besides the sounds of workers and machines somewhere."

"Hmm... it's close! Shadow, move now!" shouts Red as he pushes Shadow aside. A stream of machine gun bullets passed him. A helicopter warps into view. It was cloaked.

"Thanks." said Shadow as he stands back up.

"Only one? Security must be busy somewhere." Flare comments.

"Well one or no one, lets destroy it...SONIC BLADE!" Shouts Red as he throws a spiral gust of gray wind at the helicopter, slicing it in half and both sides explode upon touching the ground. The gate of the fortress lowers slowly.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...It must've been the guard of the fortress; let's not question our opening and go!" said Red. They all rush across the bridge.

Egg Fortress, lab room.

The view focuses on the crimson colored fox in a bio tube, it then shows a close up on its eye which opens slightly but enough to see its dark red colored pupils.

"I sense...intruders... but... more time...need... more time..." it says. Its voice sounds a bit deep but soft.


	19. Battle in the Fortress

Chapter 19: Battle in the Fortress

Shadow and crew rush into the enormous main hall of the Egg Fortress, ready for a fight but surprisingly, all the worker bots are working; no blaring alarms, no robots waiting to attack in response.

"Huh? What the hell is going on?" asks Shadow in confusion.

"They're ignoring us." said Flare.

"Well thank you, Mrs. Obvious!"

"Let's take advantage of this and keep going, don't let your guard down, not even for a second." said Red. They continue cautiously down the hall.

Egg Fortress, roof top.

Eggman is in his Egg mobile while looking out at the mechanical city below, Sand Ocean is playing on the city's loud speakers and he's nodding his head to it. Tails is sitting quietly next to him, contemplating suicide by falling.

_"Ah, such a great achievement!"_ Eggman thought happily to himself. _"I almost have everything I want and there's no one to stop me. It's almost too boring here without Sonic trying to spoil my plans."_ He looks at Tails who is leaning dangerously far over the edge but thought nothing of it. "So, Tails..." Tails jumps back at the sound of his voice and quivers. "I hear you have some useful info I can use. You'll be smart in helping me understand my problem otherwise you'll be a splat on the pavement below!" In the distance, a golden streak of light is dashing towards the rooftop, it then reveals itself as Silver who stops instantly on the roof and returns to normal.

"Egghammock, I've brought you the emerald." announces Silver as he sits the emerald down. He wobbles a bit while walking.

"Eggman, E.G.G.M.A.N, I AM THE EGGMAN!" In response, the city's radio switches to his theme.

"Phew, that tired me a little. Yeah, yeah, yeah, so what's the next mission." Eggman face-palms.

"Your next mission is to not interrupt me in the middle of important matters!" Beepbeep! "Hm?" Eggman checks his wrist communicator. "Ah, intruders in the entrance hall?"

"Roger, Eggyolk, I'm gonna take the elevator and cut them off if I see them. It's the only elevator in the fortress. I'll bet they'll be too lazy to look for the stairs, haha, such punks." Silver walks onto the elevator and press a button, the elevator lowers itself.

Egg Fortress, silo room.

The room is boiling hot, Amy could find no other way out. She look at N who is still unconscious from the previous attack, she couldn't help her either.

_"Oh, it's hopeless now, I wish Sonic were still alive. He'd save me in no time."_ Amy thought.

"WARNING! TEMPERATURE REACHING INHOSPITABLE LEVELS! TEMPERATURE IS NOW 130 DEGREES AND CLIMBING!" announces the computer.

"At least she doesn't have to feel the pressure of this torture." Amy then gets an idea. "Maybe if I smash the controls around here, I can stop it!" With that, Amy began hammering every control in sight.

Shadow, Flare and Red reach the other side of the hall, the elevator. However, the elevator isn't there.

"Looks like we'll have to wait, I hope we can still avoid the chaos." said Flare with a sigh as she watches the robots working.

"Chaos?...Chaos?" repeats Shadow. The word is strongly familiar to him. His body begins to spark with electricity. "Hm?" Suddenly electricity engulfs Shadow. "AAAAAAAAGGGGHH!"

"Whoa, What the HELL!?" cries Red in confusion.

"SHADOW!" cries Flare. The electric surge stops and Shadow collapses as smoke rises out from his body.

"W-was that a trap!?" asked Red as his eyes darted around the room. "I don't see any obvious signs of rigged walls or floors."

"What happened to him?"

"I wish I can answer that." Flare approaches the burnt out hedgehog's body and pokes him quick and then pulls her hand back. Then she gently places her hand on his chest.

"He's still breathing, he's out cold though."

Meanwhile.

Every control unit and control panels are smashed beyond repair; the temperature continues to rise.

"WARNING TEMPERATURE AT 200 DEGREES!" announces the computer.

"I...can't..." Amy sobs as she swings her hammer around on last time and falls to her back. "Oh... This heat is too much, it even hurts to breathe. Sonic... save me..." She began to close her eyes when suddenly Merciless appears at the top platform.

"Computer, pass code: Eggman Empire Rise, abort previous command and rapidly cool the blast room to normal room temperature." she announces without taking her eyes off the pink hedgehog. Strangely, her eyes isn't a look of hatred or malice or vengeance but intrigue. Even stranger, she is still in top physical shape; no signs of scars or burns from the explosions she was in earlier; even her uniform is intact. "If you're determined enough, you'll finish the job and kill Eggman. He's at the top of the fortress with your friend. Take these to reach them. I suggest you hurry, the two-tailed fox can no longer fly. Maybe you can end this nightmare." She tosses down two silver devices and walks away.

"Aborting heating procedures and returning the blast room to normal temperature, have a nice day." the computer says in response. The room starts cooling down by releasing cold air. After about a minute, Amy finds the strength to stand and looks up where Merciless was standing.

_"But...why?"_ Amy thought to herself. She then turns to N who is still on the floor. She goes over and checks her pulse; still breathing. "No matter, Eggman is going to pay!" Amy grabs one of the devices, an energy cube forms around her and lifts her up. "I'll be bacK for you, N." The energy is able to pass her through solid objects and lifts her high towards the top of the silo.

With Shadow's group.

The freight elevator lowers to the ground, Silver is on it.

"Oh damn... I sense he's formidable." said Red.

"...damn it." growls Flare.

"Welcome, my glorious fans!" shouts Silver happily as he takes a bow and then realizes Flare is holding Shadow on her knees. "HEY! IT'S RUDE TO SLEEP ON A GRAND ENTRANCE YA BLACK PUNK!"

"He's not sleep, he got electrocuted out of nowhere! He's unconscious."

"Electrocuted out of nowhere, huh?" asks Silver as he scratched his head in confusion. "Ah! He was one of those implanted with the bug."

"A bug? What the hell do you mean!?" asks Red in a harsh demanding tone.

"Watch your damn tone or you might get a more slow and painful death than the one that's already coming to you." sneers Silver in the same tone. "The bug keeps Shadow from remembering anything that's even close to his past. It's programmed to zap the punk."

"Why? Afraid if he remembers something, he'll take you down?"

"I don't know, ask Eggfat when you see him. That'll never happen though since it's time to die. It's nothing personal, just orders."

"Damn it!" exclaims Flare. "It's not fair, Shadow can't move!"

"Funny, I don't remember being told not to kill off any punks that can't move, oh well." said Silver with a chuckle as he approaches them. Red steps forward.

"I came here with the intent to kill Eggman. Don't make me kill you first!" he growls harshly. The view switches to the side so you can see them both glaring at each other intensely; you can almost see lightning between their eyes.

"Oh really!?" asks Silver with an evil grin. "You kill me? HA! You got balls, I'll give you that. You must be new here since you don't know who is the best in the Eggman Empire!"

"That would be my brother, Dark Red."

"Oh-hell-no! You're gonna die NOW!" shouts Silver as he rushes at the blue hedgehog.

"Flare, I did this purposely, take Shadow and get away from here! No matter how bad things look, keep Shadow away until he's up." cried Red over his shoulder. He front flips over Silver while Flare takes Shadow and hides behind a large canister.

"I'll make this as painful as possible!" Silver rushes into Red with the help of wind, launching the blue hedgehog into the far wall. Red lands and Silver, moves at abnormal speed and uppercuts Red so high that he almost hits the ceiling high above. As the blue hedgehog falls, Silver's arm glows white as he charges his attack. "RIPPLE WIND!" Silver swings his arms and a transparent crescent gust of wind heads for Red. Red opens his eyes.

"So, you're a close to mid-range wind element, about time, now the battle is half won!" SWISH! Red curls into a ball and uses his insta-shield (see Sonic and Knuckles and Sonic advance) to break the attack and land hard on Silver. Silver gets sent a bit back and recovers by hand-standing and flipping to his feet. Silver once again appears in front of Red using his speed but this time Red fires a blast of icy air into Silver's face. Silver stops shakes his head and then looks back at Red with a grin.

"Oh come on, really? Just a blast of cool air when you clearly had a clean shot on me?"

"I told you my intent is to kill Eggman. So far, I see you have potential fighting prowess that rivals that of my little brother, but Eggman is using it to his advantage! He's using it for evil!"

"Heh, do you really expect me to care about that? You're an idiot! Eggshell is my master and that's all that matters!" Silver attacks Red with a volley of lightning fast punches to his stomach. Red lands in a fetal position, Silver follows up with a roundhouse kick that sends him careening into the wall leaving a crack. Red lands, gets up slowly and hold his stomach with one hand. He sighs and shakes his head in disbelief. "Eggie boy is clearly the one who deserves to be in charge of this world. You're just some low-rare scum who intruded on our perfect land and tries to drag his name through the mud. Hehe, I'm gonna enjoy kicking your ass around before I kill you."

"A delusional brainwashed idiot. Alright, I change my mind, my intent at this moment is to kill you first then Eggman!" Red sucker-punches Silver hard in his face and backhands him back a little. Silver recovers and tries to sweep kick him but Red dodges by jumping and kicking him a bit more back. Silver trips over. "I guess the shoe is on the other foot." Silver gets in a football stance and his body glows a ghostly white.

"I ain't done yet, punk! WIND SPHERE!" His body gets engulfed in a gray ball of wind and he high-speed tackles Red and throws him high into the air and jumps up to meet with the airborne hedgehog and grabs his arms. "I can summon the power of wind!" He begins spinning around and around as a transparent tornado engulfs his body. He gradually gains speed until the tornado forms in plain sight. Flare gasps at the action and then looks back down on Shadow.

_"Please get up, he needs our help."_ she says in her thoughts.

"Having any regrets yet?" Silver asks.

"...not quite, I'm in the perfect position to win!" Red replied calmly.

"We'll see! HAAAAA! TORNADO THRUST!" WOOSH! WOOSH! WOOSH! Silver swings Red around really hard 3 times then throws Red with amazing speed towards an explosive gas canister.

"CHAOS TELEPORT!" shouts Red quickly as he takes out his bronze emerald. In a flash he vanishes but in another flash, he reappears behind Silver and he crashes hard into the silver hedgehog with the same momentum as when he was thrown, and sends him reeling directly into the explosive barrel causing a whole series of explosions. Red lands ninja-like and looks back at the explosion. "Some fail to realize that strengths can also be used against the opponent if the victim can find a way to counter it."

"YES!" shouts Flare, happily. She lifts Shadow up and walks over to him.

Meanwhile, on the roof of the fortress.

Amy flies through the ceiling and finds herself on top of the roof. The cube surrounding her disappears as the device shorts itself out. Amy spots Eggman and Tail but his back is facing towards her. Now was her time for revenge.

_"If his back is turned, he won't know what hit him!"_ Amy thought to herself as she draws her hammer. She frowns slightly at the thought of N. _"Please be alright, N."_

"Now then. I want you to reveal everything you know, otherwise-" Eggman began but then with a loud thud, Amy jumps onto the Egg mobile and smashes Eggman hard on the back with her hammer and Eggman is sent out of his vehicle and over the edge. "Uhn! AAAAAAHHHH!" shouts Eggman at the top of his lungs as he plummets toward his death. With a sigh of relief, Amy jumps off the fat man's machine and goes over to Tails and sits beside him. Tails stood in awe for a moment.

"A-Amy? Is that...r-really...you?" Tails asks shakily. Amy nods slowly and Tails embraces her. "I...I thought everyone I knew was gone, Eggman told me so...and now you beat him!" Then it finally sank into Amy.

"I...beat Eggman! I really beat Eggman!" she cried. "Oh my god, I can't believe it."

"Wait until we tell everyone!"

"That won't be necessary!" said a robotic voice from below. A gold streak bursts up and stops high over the building. It's Metal Sonic carrying Eggman by the back of his shirt. The newly improved robot hovers low to sit Eggman back in his Egg mobile and the fat man turns around to face them.

"Amy! You pink miserable rodent! You'll pay for that! I don't know how you got out of that room but make no mistake that I will ensure that you won't escape your fate this time." growl Eggman coldly. He then rams her out of the way and hovers over Tails. A blue tractor beam with white energy rings flowing through it comes from the bottom of the vehicle and surrounds Tails then goes over to the giant green emerald. Eggman flies high and turns around, Tails and the M.E. are locked in the beam.

"Amy! HELP ME!" cries the helpless fox.

"The penalty for attempting at my life is horrible torture and death! Metal Sonic, do something to get rid of this girl, I want to see pieces of her scattered across this roof and throughout the city!" after he said that, a screen on his Egg mobile began beeping. "Gah Merciless, what is it? This better be important!"

"Sir, something is moving around the city and setting of sensors like crazy, none of our units know what it is and cameras can't catch it." said Merciless' voice from the vehicle.

"Not even Robotnik Land's best security bots can track it?"

"Not at all, from what I can tell it's a sorta blue blur, it's destroying robots and sabotaging equipment!"

"Where is your current position?"

"I'm at the harbor base, some RED HEDGEHOG idiot locked me out of the fortress' security room."

"I'm on my way, stay put!" Eggman switches off the link and flies off above the city.

"You've made an attempt at my master's life, I'll repay the favor for him by taking yours." Metal Sonic says then began to scan Amy.

"Oh no..." said Amy as she backs away.

"Target identified as Amy Rose. Amy, it seemed like only a day ago when I single-handedly capture you on Little Planet, it also reminds me of when I lost the race with Sonic on that Stardust Speedway! Let me demonstrate my new power to you!" Metal Sonic's stomach begins to glow red and blasts a red beam at Amy. Amy ducks and looks back in horror. The beam has scorched the ground with intense heat waves emanating from it. She looks in front of her again and Metal Sonic is gone. She stands up and something slams hard into her back. She feels herself being lifted up and gets slammed hard into the ground.

"Ow...oh...ah..." Amy was in too much pain to even think of getting back up to fight. Her body goes limp as he slams her repeatedly, letting out grunts of pain each time. Metal Sonic drops her, lands and strikes a pouting pose.

"You're so weak and tender. I almost feel it isn't worth the effort to kill you." He grabs her leg and drags her to the edge.

FLASH!

Sonic and Amy are in a park, walking.

"Sonic, why don't you at least let me stay with you? Or go with you places?" Amy asks the blue hero.

"Well..." Sonic scratches the back of his head in thought. "Listen, you get captured all the time. No one want to spend all their life protecting someone."

"But Sonic-"

"But, maybe if you learn to fight and become a lot more better with that hammer, then we'll talk."

"But-"

"That's all I'm asking, check ya later!" the hedgehog speeds off leaving a dust trail.

"...I will..."

End Flashback.

"I WILL!" Amy screams. A new flow of energy bursts into Amy, she kicks off Metal's hand and rolls to her feet and faces Metal Sonic as she takes out her piko piko hammer. "This is what Sonic always wanted from me and though he's not around anymore, I'm gonna become stronger for him!"

"You are experiencing denial within yourself! Get over Sonic, he was just as weak as you are. He was scheduled to die when I was built! He was delaying the inevitable and so are you."

"Shut up! Shut UP! SHUT UP!" Amy's body now has a red ghostly glow engulfing it. She hammers Metal with left/right swings then once she has the golden armored robot near the edge she spins around 3 times and throws her hammer into the metallic warrior's face. The hammer boomerangs back to her.

"I'M UNABLE TO BELIEVE THIS!" said Metal Sonic as the robot plummets down. Amy watches to make sure this time the enemy land. CRASH! With a loud bang, the robot smashed into the streets below but surprisingly still remained intact. Amy proudly points her hammer out towards the city.

"Sonic's not around anymore so I feel that it's my duty to free this city before Eggman finds a way to expand and conquer the world."

"That's a pretty dramatic speech, Amy." said a voice from behind. Amy turns around and N is aiming a pistol at her. "Now if you'll excuse me, it's my turn to finish the job!"

"N!?" shrieks Amy in shock.

"Get down, NOW!" On a quick reaction, Amy drops to the ground. BANG!BANG!BANG! Clink! N shoots past Amy. Confused, the female hedgehog turns around and floating behind her is Metal Sonic, his right arm now long with two short rods at the end and a red orb that seemed to just stop forming. He was going to finish her! N had somehow shot its weakness and rendered him immobile "Amy, deliver the final blow. If you really believe in what you just said, that is."

"I know exactly what to do!" she began reminiscing about Sonic. Her body glow now looks more like a sphere of pure red fire than just a ghostly glow on her. "STORMING HEART!" She blows a kiss her body creates a shockwave of big heart-shape energy which pound hard on Metal Sonic and sends the evil robot into and uncontrollable spin. Metal Sonic recovers with some parts of his armor only scratched. Amy's glowing red aura disappears and she collapses to one knee due to the amount of energy she used; she's exhausted. Metal Sonic recovers and stares back at her.

"Interesting move..." the rods on Metal Sonic's right arm begin to create electricity and form an orb in it. "It isn't enough to damage me; you and the human will be demolished." N raises her pistol at Metal Sonic. CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!

"No worries, I have more cli-!" PUEW! N gets interrupted as she attempts to reach in her jacket by a red blast which barely missed her. The attack scrapes her arm, burning it. "ARGH!" N holds her arm and cries out in pain.

"Launching-" Metal Sonic was about to speak and launch his attack but he cut himself off and returned his arm to normal. He turns around and faces the city. "If I am assuming correctly, we have a problem." Metal Sonic boosts off, the blast was so powerful that Amy's body flipped 360 degrees into N and they slide to the other side of the roof.

"I can't help but feel we lucked out." mumbles N with a sigh after a moment of silence.

"Okay, that was weird. I wonder what could be more important to him than his master's orders?" asks Amy. Her stomach growls. "Ooh...so what do we do now?"

"First, you get off me and then we get some food as planned, Eggman's gotta have a chow stash somewhere."

Meanwhile.

The explosion triggers chain reactions between robots and other gas canisters.

"Flare, we can't celebrate yet, we gotta get outta here first!" shouts Red while watching the explosions. The whole floor suddenly bursts into flames and Red and Flare leap onto the elevator and press the buttons.

"This is dangerous!" shouts Flare over the explosions.

"So is waiting here but what choice do we have!?" The elevator began to rise. It wasn't long before they reached the production room. Many worker bots are fixing strange machine parts and placing them on conveyor belts. Red and Flare enter slowly. "That's strange..." Red examines the machine parts. "How in the hell did he end up with these?"

"Aren't these just regular machine parts?"

"I've seen most machine parts before. These unique-looking ones were stolen... I'm sure the robots won't care too much if I check them for a little while."

"We don't have time, we need to lay Shadow in a safe spot."

"Can you fight?"

"What's that have to do with anything?"

"That's not answering my question, can you fight?"

"Yes, I can!"

"Then Shadow is already in a safe place, and the pressure would be less if you place him on your back instead of carrying him like a princess."

"_Never thought of that."_ thought Flare as she placed Shadow on her back and his arms around her neck. "I would've thought of that sooner or later."

"It didn't seem like it."

"... so what are you going to do, check out machines all day?"

"Maybe."

"What do you mean by "maybe"?"

"'Maybe.' Don't worry, I'll bet the two of us can smash any of these bots that try anything."

"Sigh/ What does the machine parts have to do with anything? Why the sudden interest?"

"I have plenty of engineering and computer experience. I can probably use these to create either weapons or equipment in our favor. I doubt we can take on every enemy with only pistols for long.

"Ah, so since we suddenly have so much free time, ya know with Shadow down and all... what am I supposed to do?"

"Do whatever you please." RANG! All of the guard robots stop and the eyes turn red.

"Enemy attack code initiated, switching to battle mode!" said all the robots in unison as they turn to Red and Flare.

"Oh crap." said Red and Flare in unison.

"Flare, you can't back down outta this one, there are too many but these guys don't look hard, just use your flames." said Red calmly.

"Right!" agreed Flare and with that, they head towards the robots.

Minutes later, in an unknown location.

Eggman is talking to Merciless in a security looking room.

"Like I said..." Merciless continues. "Something has made the security utilities go crazy. All of the rebel are in the Egg Fortress so I doubt they have anything to do with this."

"You're sure that none of our operations or robots are causing this?" asks Eggman as he scratches his head.

"Highly doubt it, everything in each sector is programmed not to wander in other sectors and they're all immune to the same electrical sources in that sector."

"Maybe there's a glitch in the system."

"Once again, sir, I doubt it. I ran a troubleshoot of every program but all I'm getting back are positive results. Nothing seems to be wrong with our systems."

"Hold on as I contact Dark Red." Eggman talks on his wrist comm. "Dark Red, where are you?"

"Hey, where are you? I just got back to the Egg Fortress and you wasn't here." replied D.R. over the communicator.

"You're in the perfect position then."

"Say what?"

"Round up every rebel, use any necessary force to apprehend them but try not to kill any of them unless they're being very resistant. Just round them up and keep them there until I arrive."

"This is too easy. It'll be done quick!"

"I trust that you don't need any help, right?"

"Nope. Over and out." The communication is closed.


	20. The Return of Sonic the Hedgehog

Chapter 20: The Return of Sonic the Hedgehog

Egg Fortress, security room.

D.R. unlocks the door, walks inside and takes a seat at the chair with the computer.

"Uh oh, accidentally locked the door, I'll bet Mercy is PO'd. So what if she is. Ok, now let's see where I can find the action." said D.R. to himself as he began clicking the mouse and typing occasionally. "Most reports say 'Suspicious characters wandering about.' eh? Maybe that's where I can find the fun. "The computer changed black with red flashing letters 'WARNING' on it. "Hm?" The letters instantly switch to 'INTRUDERS CONFIRMED IN PRODUCTION ROOM' "Alright, I'll lock the doors in that room and see what's up." D.R. presses one last button and takes out his golden chaos emerald. "Chaos Teleport!" he vanishes in a bright flash.

Egg Fortress, lab room.

The view rotates around the glass tube and then closes up on the eye, which opens slightly but more widely than before. The view becomes blurry and pans out through the door, which you see N and Amy sneaking through the halls. The view switches back to the fox and his closes his eyes again and the view switches back to Amy and N.

"I smell food this way." whispers Amy.

"Huh? I don't smell anything. Then again, your hedgehog nose is better than my human one." said N with a chuckle.

"Wait, shh." A scrubbing sound is heard from a distance and approached extremely quickly until a robot with a mop comes from around the corner while mopping.

"Heh, no wonder this big place is so clean."

"I saw that robot on the Egg Carrier." The robot, in its set path, trips N as it passes by.

"Ouch, hey!" Amy sweat drops and grabs N's arm before she chases the robot.

"I'm sure it didn't mean it, let's go." They approach a fancy golden door with an Eggman symbol on it.

"Please enter passcode." said the computerized control panel. BANG! N shoots the control panel.

"Passcode accepted!" ZZZZPP! The panel shorts out and the door open, inside is a large dinner table with lots of recently cooked food. N and Amy put on the biggest smiles and begin their feast.

Egg fortress, production room.

Parts of robots lay scattered across the ground, some shorting out, others exploding. Flames and patches of ice lay on the ground.

"You're right, they're not that hard. They just kept swinging the same way." said Flare as she recollects her energy. "It's too bad I wasted all that flame power on them. We haven't reached the eggheads yet."

"Looks like there's nothing special here, let's sabotage this area and leave. I can't let Eggman use anymore of these stolen parts." said Red. He reaches towards the closest machine but then stops and looks around with a sense of urgency. "...!"

"Red, what's wrong?"

"I sense someone coming!"

"...you're right..." In a bright flash, D.R. appears and lands on top of one of the large gas canisters with his arms crossed.

"Ah, I was hoping it was Shadow, just in case he decided to get revenge over that force fusion thing." sighs D.R. as he shakes his head in disappointment. "Guess he got owned before I could get to him."

"Force fusion? What?" Flare asks.

"You've seen it so it should be obvious by name at least. Maybe Red can explain that to you."

"The force fusion is a technique that I taught him. It turns two beings into a form of light and merges their body, mind, and strengths together. To the average person, the idea is off-putting and very scary. For the most part, the conversation will end up with a fuss and if the situation absolutely calls for it then it's time wasted fussing over it. Thus, I taught him the force fusion that allows him to fuse automatically with that person against their own will. It is far weaker than a regular fusion where two people actually work together to pull it off." said Red, half-heartedly looking back on that moment.

"Well said, older bro. Now, if we can quickly get down to business, I'd like to capture you all and take you to the big man."

"W-what for?" asks Flare.

"And where?" asks Red. _"He's certainly lost his personality under Eggman's control."_

"Hmph! The answer to both questions is neither of your concern. Now I'm telling you to come with me."

"Unh..." moans Shadow as he regains conscious.

"Looks like old blacky is waking up. Rise and shine bitch."

"Huh? What... happened? Flare, why am I ON YOUR BACK?" D.R. chuckles.

"Now that's funny."

"...you!" Shadow said as he jumps off Flare.

"Me!" D.R. mimics. "What, you wanna fight or something?"

"I'll kick your ass for what you tried to do."

"Try? I already succeeded."

"Shadow, it's not wise to try to fight him yet." said Flare.

"But what other choice do we have, Flare?" asks Shadow angrily

"He's right. I don't think he'll let us reach Eggman also." said Red calmly.

"Fine." sighs Flare.

"We'll thrash him together!" exclaims Shadow.

"3 versus 1? That's not fair!" shout D.R. in horror.

"I hate to admit it, but he's right, I think all of us should fight him sequentially." said Flare.

"Me? I was talking about you 3. None of you stand a chance."

"You're too sure of yourself. I say let's get him now!" exclaims Shadow as he rushes to D.R..

"AQUA WISP!" shouts D.R. before he throws a ball of blue energy into the ground.

"Shadow, don't attack head on!" shouts Red. Shadow skids to a stop.

"What did he just do?" Shadow ask.

"This is something new."

"Red, you mean you never seen D.R. use that move?" asked Flare nervously.

"Like I said. 'This is something new' Just about anything can happen now, get ready."

"How could you be so calm?" Red shrugs his shoulders. _"Ugh, starting to feel like this guy is more annoying than Shadow."_

"CAN SOMEONE AT LEAST GIVE ME A HINT?" Shadow shouts.

"Oh, no need for clues. I don't care for suspense." said D.R. as he points to the ground under Shadow. He snaps his fingers and a blue cylinder of energy rises from the ground to the ceiling, encircling Shadow.

"Oh crap." Shadow tries to move but the energy feels solid.

"Brace yourself." D.R. raises his hand and the blue energy ball bursts out of the ground and into the air while taking Shadow with it.

"Whoaaaa!" Upon hitting the ceiling, the ball bursts into water bubbles. To Shadow it felt as if someone rammed him with a battering ram to the center of his stomach. THUMP! Shadow lands real hard on his stomach. "Oof!" He's dazed on the floor.

"Looks like Shadow was RKO'd. Re-knocked out. Heh heh! I didn't even break a sweat."

"That joke was corny." Red comments.

"So is your face." D.R. retorts. The two bicker back and forth, Flare uses the opportunity to get behind the dark red hedgehog.

"BURN WAVE!" she yells and throws her hands forward and fire shots of lava on the canister. BOOM! D.R. looks back but it's too late; the canister explodes.

"Good job, let's jet!" shouts Red.

"Hey, don't forget me!" shouts Shadow as he stands up and limps along with them. When they reached the elevator, the door refuses to open.

"Ah crap, no wonder he teleported in here."

"What NOW?"

"Dark Red has locked the doors here. There's nothing left for us here since Eggman's presence feels far off so the only way out is to blast a wall or something."

"That won't be necessary since you won't be leaving here without me!" growls D.R.'s voice from the blaze. In an instant, a water sphere engulfs the flames and D.R. walks at them calmly. "Not bad, if only I wasn't expecting that then maybe it would've done some damage."

"…" the trio are speechless.

"Now, in retaliation, I'm gonna beat you all within an inch of your lives before we leave this room so, PREPARE YOURSELVES!" D.R. jumps up.

Meanwhile in Eggman's dining room.

The food on the table is almost completely clean; N and Amy eat the last of it.

"Ah…" they both said in satisfaction.

"I haven't eaten and drank like that in ages." said Amy with a smile.

"Same here." N agreed. "Now we can't forget what we gotta do.

"Right." They both leave the room.

Outside the fortress.

Explosions are taking place in random parts of the city. Some workers are evacuating flaming buildings. Robot fire fighters and helicopters rush to the scene to put the blazes out.

"What's happening?" cried a female worker. Explosions zigzagged through blocks of the mechanical city.

"Is Eggman destroying the city?" asks a male worker. Some more buildings and machines explode and burst into flames. Workers start running as fast as they can.

Unknown location.

Alarms and sirens rang aloud throughout the area.

"It's happening again, sir." said Merciless. "Sectors 1 through 47 got bombed to hell!"

"So many so fast... What the hell is doing this?" asked Eggman. "Activate all the sensors now!"

"They are active. This is causing problems, we can't detect whatever it is, let alone, get a lock on it. It's as if the target is either invisible or too fast, and I doubt that anything in the world is that fast… except-."

"Nothing... this... fast… this is… no, I won't believe this! Halt all active projects, send workers to their cells and give them healthy amounts of food when it's time to eat. Emergency sweep the entire city! Block every crossroad with check points! Cut the radio programming off and change it to sonar, see if it can pick up any suspicious sounds! I cannot and will not take any chances!"

"I'll do it right away, sir." Merciless types some things on the computer.

"I'll have to accelerate one of my plans so I'll be leaving the city until tomorrow."

"I understand. I, Dark Red and the others will take command."

"Just find out what's blowing everything up! I've come too far now to suddenly have things crashing down!" BANG! Metal Sonic crashes into the room from the ceiling.

"Dr. Robotnik, I've picked up something very unique while I was at the fortress." said the golden robot hedgehog.

"Detail me when I return, I want you and the rest of the Eggman empire to find out what those explosions are, and when you do, ELIMINATE IT!" shouts the evil doctor as he left, slamming the door behind him. An awkward silent falls upon the room.

"He might have shouted because you broke the ceiling." said Merciless quietly.

"He is always like this. For his weight, shouting is bad for his blood pressure, he must exercise! The ceiling can always be fixed." said the evil robot. Merciless slightly chuckled at this, knowing if she bursts out laughing, Metal Sonic will take offense in this. "We should start searching." The computer screen reads 'Sector 48 and 49 attacked'.

"Uh, I'll stay here and keep the monitoring the situation." Metal Sonic flashed a quick scan beam from his eyes to the screen. "Hey!"

"I was storing it in memory. I'll go and investigate for myself." Metal Sonic flies through the hole he came in.

_"Yeah, you just do that. Everything is going according to my plans so far!" _Merciless thought to herself.

"Why did you do that, Merciless?" asks a female voice from the dark corner of the room. Merciless lets out an annoyed sigh.

"Do what?"

"Why did you do give those devices to that pink rat and have her kill Eggman?"

"I wanted to know how he dies, can't blame a girl for having a little fun."

"DO NOT do it again! It's highly annoying every time I have to use my powers for something so stupid!" The darkness becomes slightly lit with a pair of angry orange glowing eyes.

"Cool it, it won't happen again. Can you at least tell me the result this time? Heh heh."

"What do you think?"

"He splattered right?"

"Obviously." The figure vanishes.

"Aww, you could have went into detail."

In another unknown location.

The lights in the area are dim but you can make out a small room with only a round table and some people are sitting on chairs. A door opens and you can make out a silhouette of a hedgehog.

"That was quick, did you even take out all sectors?" asks one of the people in the dark. The figure closes the door quickly.

"Hey, chill out." said another voice. "If he says he'll do it, then he'll do it!"

"I took out the machines in those sectors so fast, they didn't know what hit 'em. I feel sorry for the people but luckily no one is hurt." said the figure that entered the room.

"That's our first mission down, this is too easy, at this rate, we'll over throw Egg dude like nothing!" said another voice in the dark.

"Security will be over that place with a fine tooth comb, it'll be safer if we wait here until this mess cools down." said a high female voice.

"Don't worry, sis. I managed to sneak out one of these map data chip thingies from that fortress while they were busy."

"I can't see it, brighten the light a bit. This shade of light is killing my eyes." The lights brighten up a bit and now you see Manic, Sonia and Mighty the armadillo sitting. They're a lot more mature and older looking. Manic places a chip down. "Well, it's definitely the chip we need, but what do we have that will let us see the map?"

"Uh…"

"I'm pretty sure we'll think of something." said Mighty.

"I'm all over it… but uh… where do I look first?" asked the only figure in the dark.

"Oh true, that's a bummer."

"Wait, there must be plenty of machine things in that fortress. He also has my friend in there." Mighty stands up.

"I hope you aren't saying what I think you're saying!" Manic stands up.

"Bro, we can't go back in there yet." said the green hedgehog.

"What? This might be the best chance we have since there's so much confusion. Besides, our insider called me in on an emergency favor while I was out already. That's why we had to hurry up and start our attack today! I'm going back in!" With that, the figure opens the door and leaves.

"Yo, wait!" shouts Manic as he opens the door. You can see the figure's silhouette. "At least find out where all that energy is going! Also you almost forgot this." Manic hands the hedgehog a cloak.

"Yeah, no problem. I'm pretty sure that woman knows about the energy. It ain't gonna do no harm to ask her." The cloaked figured speeds off.

With N and Amy, the Egg Fortress elevator.

N and Amy hide behind a nearby wall while waiting for the elevator.

"This is odd" said N. "The elevator should've been here by now."

"…we can't wait any longer. I'll pry the door open with my hammer." said Amy as she began to pull the elevator doors using her hammer's handle. With not much effort, the door opened and a heat wave bursts out. "Ah!" She falls back hard and gets back up to look inside the shaft. "Well, there's… the elevator but what caused the heat wave?" N joins her. The view shows the elevator several floors down while the walls glow slightly orange.

"Oh no… see that orange glow against the walls? It means one of the floors are on fire."

"When I think of it, I do hear the fire."

"Yeah, and if the first floor is burnt, we're not leaving this way."

"What do we do?"

"We climb along those ledges and get as low as we can…" The beams that are being used as ledges began to collapse. "…quickly." N and Amy began climbing along the ledges.

Egg fortress, production room.

The 3 on 1 fight with D.R. begins as everyone jumps out of the way of his oncoming kick

"Split up and attack him from every side!" commands Red as he blocks D.R. oncoming fist and kicks him back. D.R. quickly recovers and punches him twice and trips him off his feet. Flare attempt to throw a fireball at his back but D.R. sense it and counters with a ball of water. He then rushes and rolls at her but Flare, thinking on her feet, kicked the curled up hedgehog into the air. "Flare, NO!"

"What? I got him!" replied Flare. D.R. uncurls in the air.

"You should've dodged it instead."

"TERRA BOMB!" D.R. shouts as he uncurls in mid-air, throws both arms in the air and throws a big ball of white energy at Flare who is looking in astonishment.

"MOVE YOU IDIOT!" shouts Shadow. Flare then comes to her senses and leaps out of the way. BOOM! The energy ball explodes loudly creating a blinding flash and kicking up dust and debris. "…" Flare stood speechless. D.R. lands in the smoke.

"Damn it! Where did he go?" asks Shadow as he looks around.

"Right here!" said D.R.'s voice from the smoke. Shadow felt his ribs are hit hard and is sent sliding across the floor. D.R. blasts water at high speed from his hand towards Shadow, which clears the smoke, launches Shadow up at the wall, kicks up debris, and leaves Shadow planted in the wall. Meanwhile Flare aims her black magnum at him and negative energy charges into the barrel and Red rushes at D.R. with a slide kick but D.R. jumps over the blue hedgehog, and lands on him with an insta-shield slash making Red do a back flip before landing face-first.

"BLACK MAGNUM BANG!" shouted Flare as her magnum glows brilliantly with black and purple. She pulls the trigger and a black mixed with purple energy ball heads for D.R.. D.R., sensing this, draws his regular magnum and charges it with positive energy, which is blue and white.

"Magnum Bang Attack!" He cries as he pulls the trigger and a ghostly blue energy ball is launched at Flare's attack. "When it comes to numbers, negative and positive integers of the same number equal 0, meaning they cancel out." The attacks collide and struggle for victory. ZZZP! ZZP! ZZP! Sparks are created in the center of the two energy attacks. "When it comes to energy of opposite polarizations…." BOOOM! With a mighty explosion, both attacks disintegrated and smoke is once again kicked up. Flare shields herself. "Both attacks explode in a blinding flash and kick up smoke. Now we can't see each other but I can feel your chaos energy! WATER LASSO!"

"Huh?" when Flare looks back where the explosion was, two clear water tentacles grasps her neck. "Ack! Ah…ack!" The smoke clears and D.R. is visible but his arms are the tentacles, steam began to come out of Flare and her neck began to burn badly. Red coughs and struggles to one knee. His lip is bleeding.

"Dark Red., show some restraint, you have an advantage…" Red spoke but was interrupted by himself coughing up blood. "…over her. She's a fire element, you're part water element, fight fair! "

"That's some advice for someone that's on the floor and stood probably a better chance that she did." said D.R. with a sigh. "Now normally this would be the part where I choke the life out of her and watch as her body goes limp as she craps herself for the last time. However, I'm not supposed to just yet so instead I'll just KO her. " said the evil dark red hedgehog as he slowly lifts Flare into the air.

"Please…ah..." Flare managed to croak. "Don't…"

"Why not? You did attempt to blast me didn't you? It's only fair that I retaliate." D.R. swings her in an imperfect 360-degree horizontal circle. The longer he did it, the faster it got until all you see is a blue and red circle. Flare gets extremely dizzy and the pain is too unbearable so she passes out during the attack. Red gets up in a futile attempt to save her.

"SONIC BLADE MAXIMUM POWER!" shouts Red as he thrusts a saw-like gray wind at D.R. a gray trail followed behind the attack.

"Dammit Red, IT'S D.R.!" D.R. jumps over the attack and the attack slices though the wall. "TRYING TO SLICE ME IN HALF, EH? BRACE YOURSELF, THIS MIGHT SMASH YOUR **SKULL IN!**" with one final whip, D.R. slams the helpless light red hedgehog hard into the already weak Red, the two collide head to head and are sent soaring into the same wall, where Shadow is still implanted in. With a loud crash, they all go flying through the wall. On the other side of the wall is another production room but for robots instead of machine parts. Shadow, Flare and Red all lay injured on the ground.

"Wait, it's not over…" mumbles Shadow as he tries to reach up. "OW!" His arm was too hurt and his body too damaged to move. Everyone else is in the same predicament. "…I can still fight." Shadow, began to cough up blood.

"Well, aren't you the feisty one?" D.R. kicks Shadow up into the air and jumps up with him. He clutches Shadow around the waist, flips upside down and the two spiral to the ground and with a terrible crack, D.R. suplex Shadow's head into the ground. He bounces up and lands unconscious with blood running down from the side of his forehead. "I don't think master would mind if I kill just one." Just when D.R. is about to strike again, his wrist communicator beeps. "D.R. here."

"Did you capture the rebels?" asks Dr. Eggman.

"Of course, I've had to smack them around a bit, well, a lot rather, but other than that, yup. Where do you want me to send them?"

"There are 3 solitary cells in the blast room, lock them all up in there. If I should choose, I want them right there should I feel the need to fry them to death."

"Alright."

"I'm heading out for the day. I want mainly you and Silver to take care of Robotnik Land and the Eggman Empire while I'm gone!"

"No problem."

"And if you happen to see…someone suspicious..." Eggman whispers. "Then you might need the ER-2 units. They might be a bit outdated but they're easy to fix."

"Why the sudden need for extreme caution? We got everything under control."

"Sources have indicated a rapid rise in rebellious activities going on in the city. If you find any other rebels, KILL THEM!"

"Roger, I'll do everything right away."

"You won't fail me, would you?"

"Do I ever?"

"Good, that's why you're my most trusted one!" D.R. switches off his communicator. Shadow moves a bit.

"Ah…ow…we beat Silver…, why can't we beat him?" Shadow asks aloud to no one since everyone is knocked out cold, he spoke and can only manage to open one eye. D.R.'s ears perk up.

"That's easy, I'm the strongest hedgehog in the Eggman empire. But you meant to tell me you beat Silver? That's rich."

"Yeah… ah…we….made that asshole… BURN!" Shadow then spits out some blood.

"Oh really?" the dark red villain approaches Shadow and kneels down next to him. "And when and where was this?"

"The first… floor not too long before you arrived." D.R. stares into space while his eyes dart around slowly as if he's trying to sense something. He then smirks.

"Interesting, let's head there." D.R. lifts Shadow up and carries the black hedgehog on his back. D.R. uses his Chaos Teleport technique to transport to the main floor which is still ablaze from the previous battle. "What in the hell's flames happened here?" Shadow slightly chuckles.

"See? You didn't…believe me!"

"Actually, I'm more surprised of the damage. Silver, get your ass up, you're not dead!" As soon as D.R. said that, a gust of wind sweeps through the enormous hall, blowing out all the flames and Silver emerges out of the canister he was hit into.

"Aww, but I was dead. Why'd you have to 'kill' the moment." whined the silver hedgehog as he brushed off the ashes from his jacket.

"…" Shadow stares wide-eyed at the silver hedgehog.

"I'm off to the blast room. After that, we must search for the source of some explosions that the boss has told me about." said D.R. as he took out his golden chaos emerald and teleports.

"Explosions? I knew it wasn't just the sound of that canister blast ringing in my ear." mumbled Silver as he digs in his ear.

"Hey! If you're one of the Egg head's imperial scum then maybe you can tell me where his source of energy is coming from." said a voice from behind Silver. Silver looks back but sees noo one. In the same motion where he looks back something zooms by him in an instant.

"Huh? Hey, I know I ain't gone crazy because you said too much to be a voice in my head. SHOW YOUR GODDAMN SELF RIGHT NOW!"

"I think I'm the one in the position to ask questions! You can't see me!" said the voice. Something whizzes past Silver. "I'll ask you once again! Where is all the energy he's channeling from machines going to?"

"Hmph! Like I'm gonna tell you, punk. You got so much mouth for someone whose hiding; afraid to face me?"

"And you've got a mouth for someone who's clearly in my sight." someone appears directly behind Silver. "Especially since he just MIGHT be at a disadvantage."

"Grr…RA!" Silver growls and back fists behind him but hits nothing. He begins slowly searching the area. "You think you're so tough, HUH? HAHAHA! Well guess what? You aren't as invisible as you think. I feel your energy…"

"Oh yeah? Then I'll stay still and let's see if you hit me."

"Gladly!" Silver cups his hands and rolls them as if he is making a snowball a light gray ball began to form.. "GUST BALL!" He throws the ball of wind at an overhead supporting beam and hits the shadowy figure. BOOOOOOOM! The ceiling is covering in a gray windy shockwave when also reaches the ground and is now very foggy. Silver chuckles a bit then it shocked with surprise, he still felt the shadowy figure's energy at a high level. "What? I'm more superior…stronger, you should've been either vaporized or sent through the ceiling. O-or knocked off that beam at least! Hey, I bet you're prisoner #718, right? I've heard you've been giving security bots some hell!"

"Prisoner? Heh, I'm no prisoner here. I just hang out anywhere I can. (_This guy's talking crazy." _Silver thought to himself.)I was here when Eggman took over but he can't catch me."

"I don't get it! How come that attack did very little, Egg person raised all my abilities to the max…" The figure chuckled and then hysterically laughed for a few seconds. "What's so funny?"

"I said I'll stand still. I didn't say I won't block it, idiot."

"Oh…good point but you should still be torn to shreds!"

"Now it's my turn…CHAOS SPHERE!" A sphere of energy expands from the figure, radiating the area as the view whites out.

"UUUNGH!" shouts Silver at the top of his lungs as he's engulfed by the massive energy.

N and Amy are one floor above the elevator.

"What do you think we'll find on the floor anyway? All I hear are machines." said N. Amy then gasps as she looks down.

"Look, it's…it's…" stuttered Amy but she couldn't say the name. N looks down.

"Oh damn it." It's D.R. holding Shadow on his right, Flare on his left and Red on his back. He presses for the elevator and it rises. N and Amy had no choice but to hop on the elevator. D.R. spots them and grins evilly.

"Hello, Amy." D.R. says pleasantly. "How are you feeling? What brings you out of your cell and into our humble fortress?" Amy curls into the fetal position and doesn't reply. N is surprised by this. D.R. looks at N then his grin changes to a frown. "What are you doing here? State your cell and prison number, now!"

"I'm not saying anything to you."

"Very well, I can tell you're the one from the power plant a few hours back. I assume you're here because, judging by the way you're dressed, Silver killed off that tie and suit guy."

"…"

"But like I said: I'm assuming. If you search for revenge or whatever, then go for Silver. No one can beat me or him and you know it."

"You're too full of yourself."

"Heh. If being full of myself means telling the truth, THEN BE IT!" The cracks on the freight elevator's edge shined white and the elevator shakes. After about 4 seconds, the shine die down. "The hell did all that chaos energy come from?"

"Whoa, that was chaos energy?"

"_I've…felt that somewhere before._" thought Amy. The elevator finally stops on the near top floor.

"My stop. You guys didn't come here to fight me, so where are ya rebels headed?" asks D.R. surprisingly calm.

"I came to rescue Shadow." N growls.

"Rescue him? You can't do that, he's in my possession. Mission failed!"

"I…-"

"Don't give me that 'I believe in myself, I can stop you, my heart or friendship is strong, yadda yadda crap because you're only human, you can't beat an anthrop species, let alone, those with chaos energy, so use your head and your so-called highly advanced brain and leave. I'll even let you slide for being a rebel, that's how nice of a hedgehog I am at the moment."

"But-"

"But in exchange for your life you have to leave the girl hedgehog here." D.R. interrupts N, Amy still said nothing, just rocks back and forth in fear.

"Why would I do that?"

"Cause I'm giving you a bigger bargain and looking the other way. These rebels here aren't so lucky and have undeservedly earn a personal audeince with the boss egg himself. I doubt he has any use for a human such as yourself. You get to run away and start over, these guys can't"

"I meant Amy! How would I know you wouldn't starve her or even RAPE her?"

"What? Those weren't my ideas...well not the starving her part."

"Heh, it's pretty obvious why she won't speak to you and why she's horrified by you. You want me to leave her so you can do it all over again."

"You pretty smart but still: so?"

"I'm not leaving her here."

"Oh, ok." D.R. leaves the elevator and turns around. "I really don't give a damn since I know I can hunt any of you down but I'm a very busy hedgehog, I need to lock these guys up first. If you want to rescue Shadow then you'll have to find something or some way to beat me because I can easily kick your ass or do other things to it; for a human you're not so bad on the eyes HAHAHAHA!" D.R. walks away. BANG! He looks down and sees a bullet hole in him. He slowly turns around to N. "Please, you couldn't hurt me if you wanted to." The wound closes and he jumps over the platform. N thinks for a moment and then chases after him by hopping over the rail to the lower area. However, by the time she got there, D.R. had already locked the three heroes up. "Persistent, are we? I should kick your ass since I AM ordered to take out rebels like you AND since you shot me. If you wonder why you missed, I turned to water in that spot where you fired so the bullet went through me; no harm done."

"RELEASE THOSE 3 NOW!" shouts N while aiming her pistol at the evil hedgehog

"Hey HEEEEY! You sound like the FBI or something."

"I was a presidential agent before if it weren't for your boss."

"Well that's not my problem. Hey, by the way, where's your friend?" N looks back for a quick second and then looks towards D.R. who is gone.

"What!" She quickly looks around everywhere. Amy's screams are heard from the high platform by the time the mini elevator leading to the higher platform with the main elevator arrived, D.R. had already reached the main elevator and the elevator door closed. "Oh crap! DAMN YOU!" She disdainfully punches the door then slides to her knees. "Damn you… Amy, no..." she says quietly. She sits there quietly for a moment, feeling helpless. _"Maybe he's right, maybe there ain't a damn thing I can do..." S_he gets up and hops over the platform again. She goes over to one of the cells. She spots Shadow laid bruised and still bleeding from his head on the ground. "D.R.! Grr, how can you be so cruel..." She looks in the other cells. "Flare! What a relief, she's fine... Who is this blue hedgehog?"

Egg Fortress, bio lab.

D.R. enters the room, holding Amy, who is struggling weakly, by the waist.

"Oh come on, I'm not thinking of that now!" said D.R., doing his best to hold her still. "I just got an awesome idea and I need your help to try it. I'm not sure why I didn't think about this before!"

"No! Let go!" says Amy. D.R. body slams her down then lifts her up by her collar. "Ah!"

"Listen, lil girl or young woman or whatever. I am strong and you are weak so you WILL cooperate whether you like it or not!" He hurls her into a machine and the doors of the machine come down and lock. Constant banging is heard and D.R. sits at a nearby desk with a computer. He works on it for a bit and the machine activates. Amy screams so loud you can hear it throughout the hall. The computer reads "SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION!" and D.R. gets up and walks in front of the machine. "I wonder what she looks like now." A dream bubble appear and shows a over muscular Amy. "Holy CRAPTACULAR! NO THANK YOU" Then bubble then switches to a fat Amy. "Heh, now there's a screw up. I'll pass on that!" Then it switches to an Amy who looks like she's in a super form. "That's…too farfetched; just plain over-exaggerating." The door opens to reveal Amy with a slightly but noticeably darker pink fur and sharp, fierce-looking dark green eyes. Her body is perfectly toned and more healthy looking than she looked before. Her slightly thicker body tears apart her clothing. "Holy Shinto! I should've thought of this before and raped you later!"

"Things are going to change, D.R.! First off, where the HELL are my CLOTHES? Second…" She tackles D.R. hard against the wall and grabs him by the collar. "It's payback time!" She kisses him roughly and pulls him to the ground.

Outside.

Metal Sonic is soaring through the streets at astonishing speeds and then comes to an immediate stop, examines the area then opens a cover on his wrist.

"All units look out for any suspicious and rebellious activity. Report anything to the Eggman Empire immediately." says Metal Sonic and with that, he continues his sky patrol

Egg Fortress, elevator.

The same figure that went against Silver is on the elevator. Now that he's in visible light, you can see the mysterious person wearing a light gray hooded cloak.

"Yo, bro! We took out another one of those power plants, how ya holding up?" said Manic over a radio.

"Meh, I knocked out one of those Egg empire dudes, they're too slow for me."

"Nice anyone see you?"

"Nope! This cloak is still working for me, baby! I still ain't find the source that the energy is going to. I can feel a crazy amount of chaos energy somewhere from above so I'm heading there."

"Whoa dude, what's if it's another one of the empire dude?"

"Hey, I took one out before and I'm pretty sure I can do it again."

"Don't get too over your head." said Sonia. "That's how this whole thing started before."

"Don't worry, sis, I've built up patience over the years. I promise not to lose my cool ever!" The elevator stops. "Hell, if all else fails we can always move to plan B." The elevator stops.

"Alright, good luck!" The figure puts his radio in his cloak and the elevator doors open. He comes to the bio lab door. "Alright, this is where I feel the peak of that energy. What should I do? Should I barge in and play hero or maybe sneak my way in…decisions, decisions…" Inside the room, D.R. is laying tired on the ground only in his underpants.

"W-whoa…that was…cool but I can't let myself be distracted like that, I got things to do." said D.R. as he stands up but couldn't find his clothes. "Hey, Amy, WHAT THE HELL!?" The view switches to Amy who is looking in the tube at the fox, she is wearing D.R.'s clothes. "ONLY THE GUYS ARE SUPPOSED TO WEAR THAT!"

"Until I get my clothes, I'm sticking with yours." said Amy sternly as she throws her hammer at him. D.R. lets it hit him. "I also need a new weapon, that little piko whatever hammer won't do."

"You know what? I don't give a sh-"

"Shh. This thing is trying to tell me something."

"Huh? That fox isn't even fully developed yet. It's supposed to be all-powerful and stuff but whatever, I bet it can't beat me."

_"Out…side…the…door." _said a voice in D.R.'s head.

"The hell? Something is piercing my mind!" He shakes his head rapidly.

_"The door…the door…deceive..."_

"Whoa, this fox can speak to your mind, that's cool!"

"He's saying something is at the door. I'll take it on." exclaims Amy but D.R. grabs her arm.

"Wait, we gotta get you changed so I can check on the rebels! Chaos Teleport!" The two hedgehogs vanish as the door opens. The cloaks person enters and looks around.

"The energy is gone, damn it, I know I just felt it here. Hm! It's not far off at all!" said the hooded figure as he makes his way out.

Egg fortress, blast room.

N is in front of Flare's cell.

"Please…anyone get up." said N in a whisper. Flare moans and slowly stirs awake. "Flare! Are you all right?" Flare painfully chuckled but her eyes remained closed.

"If…I were…my head…and body won't ache…Haha…heh…" Flare said slowly. "I can heal myself if…you give me…something…hot…like fire…" N desperately searched the area for a few minutes.

"Damn, nothing!_ I doubt I wanna find out how to trigger that temperature trap again."_

"UHN! D.R. will soon be here…! Hide!"

"What about the rest?"

"We'll think …of something." N ran and hid behind the machine.

Egg fortress, dressing room.

Amy is now wearing the Eggman empire's female clothing: Black shoes, stockings and skirt, a red blouse with a yellow collar, and D.R. retrieves his clothes back: Black jeans, jean jacket with an eggman insignia on the back and sneakers, red shirt with yellow collar.

"Ooh, fits comfortably." said Amy, looking in a mirror. "Eggman sucks with style though. Oh well."

"Good now stay here, I'll get the hammer. I got a job to do first." said D.R. as he teleports.

"Whatever."

Egg fortress, blast room.

D.R. appears in front of the cells.

"Well I got good news for you bastards!" he says "While Eggman is gone I'm in char-huh?" He interrupts himself when he heard the sound of the elevator door opening. "Huh... this energy... who is this?" The figure walks over to the platform's rail and gazes at the orb full of energy.

"Heh, pretty cool. So this is where all the energy goes…" said the gray cloak figure.

_"This guy's energy makes me uneasy, if he's a rebel and if this is what he was searching for then we're in trouble. If he destroys this then all 10 years of saving was worth **nothing**! I can't let that happen!" _The figure takes out his radio again.

"Hey guys, I found out where all that energy is gathering…it's HUGE!"

"It will probably be too dangerous to destroy it from up close." said Sonia.

"We're trying to cut out the power now! We're having trouble entering the power plant, it seems they were ready for us this time!" shouts Manic.

"I'll see if I can manually cut out the power myself!" said the figure as he puts the radio back in his cloak.

_"I can't take him down like this, I'm a bit weary from earlier, I gotta heal first!" _thought D.R. as he takes out his golden emerald. "GOLDEN RESURRECTION!" In a bright flash D.R. had regained his strength but his emerald turns a dull grey. "Ahaha! Much better!"

"Hmph! That was one of the dumbest moves you ever did!" said Shadow from behind D.R..

"Huh?…!" D.R. turns around and finds everyone healed.

"That's all I was waiting for." said Flare with glee.

"The Dark Red I knew would've never healed himself near an enemy since the healing has an area effect; opponents can benefit from it." Red growls angrily.

"Oh shut up, guys, I'm busy!_"_ said D.R. as he turns his attention to the figure in the gray cloak. He walked over near the platform and looks up at the figure. "Yo! You've got some nerve coming here! State your prisoner and cell number immediately! _I see, now that I have a better look I think I know this fellow even with his disguise."_ The figure looks down at D.R. with a frown.

"You must be one of the Eggman Empire!" said the figure. "I'm not a prisoner here and I **NEVER **will be!"

"Who the hell is that?" whispers Flare rashly to Red. Red smirks.

"I think we all know who it is." said Red. Flare gets confused.

"Never? Never say never, you might just get your ass handed to ya!" said D.R., losing his cool.

"Really? By who!? Could you be so kind as to introduce me to my future ass-kicker?" asked the figure with a chuckle. D.R. balls his fist and grunts angrily. "He should at least learn my name first!"

"Learn your name? You're funny. You're not as mysterious as you think!"

"Hmph! Do you know who I am? I'M-"

"YOU'RE-"

"SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!" said D.R. and the figure at the same time. Sonic removes the hood and stares down hard at D.R. who is looking back at him the same way. Sonic's face looks more mature but fierce with determination.

"S-S-Sonic? No…but how!?" said Flare. "He was...he was...!"

"It's about damn time you showed up!" shouts Shadow. "Though I did kind of forget all about you."

"The hell do you mean?" asks D.R. angrily while not taking his eyes off the green-eyed hedgehog.

"Yeah, Shadow…" agreed Flare. Shadow smiles.

"You see, over at the power plant, when we destroyed it, I was certain I was falling to my death but..."

The view shows a flashback of Shadow falling but Sonic appeared falling with him.

"Hang on!" shouts Sonic as he grabs Shadow's arm.

"What the hell? I thought you died!" says Shadow.

"Heh, like I told you on the ARK, I die hard! CHAOS CONTROL!" In a flash, they both teleport.

The flashback ends.

"And that's how it happened. That's what I remember at least, everything around the time is a blur, I don't know why." said Shadow scratching his head.

"Shadow…" says N as she came from hiding behind a machine. "How come you didn't tell us before?"

"If he had, then you all would've been searching for me, you guys seemed to be doing alright so I'm glad he didn't." said Sonic.

"But Sonic, we lost one, if you were around maybe-"

"ENOUGH! You guys are talking LIKE I'M NOT EVEN HERE!" shouts D.R..

"Whoa, angry red hedgehog alert!" Sonic chuckled.

"I took down three of you easily, I'm pretty sure I can take you ALL out!"

"Hey red dude! You're fight is with me!"

"Ok "Hero"! First, tell your friend to put that gun away or she'll die first!" Sonic looks over at N who is pointing the pistol at D.R.. She's shocked that he knows even though he's not looking at her. "She tried it once already and it didn't work. I let her go out of generosity but if she tries it again it'll be her last mistake!"

"Hiya miss, please put the gun away and stand back." N does so and moves as far away as possible from the two hedgehogs.

"Let's go! AQUA WISP!" D.R. throws the ball of blue energy into the ground. Sonic leaps over the rail and lands in front of D.R.. D.R. points to the ground and the blue cylinder appears but Sonic is quick enough to dash out of it and ram D.R. into the machine, canceling the attack. Sonic jumps and spins around D.R. rapidly until he creates a tornado. D.R. spins wildly. "WATER LASSO!" The attack reaches out but misses Sonic and grabs onto a pole of a machine. D.R. pulls himself out and lands on his feet. "You're far faster than I could ever imagined."

"Thanks a lot! You're not too bad yourself."

"You're the reason Eggman left, he must've known you were coming. No matter." D.R. rushes at Sonic with fast punches but Sonic blocks them all with ease until D.R. unexpectedly did a back flip kick, sending the blue hero airborne. "AQUATIC WHIP!" D.R.'s arms become the water tentacles and starts whipping at Sonic but Sonic spins amazingly fast, creating a blue aura and cutting through the tentacles like nothing until he smashes down on the burgundy rodent kicking up lots of dusts and sent debris and cement into the air. Sonic leaps out of the dust cloud and smiles.

"Heh, give up yet?"

"Impressive!" A red sphere dashes out of the dust and smashes Sonic hard towards Red's cell. "But I'm not down and out yet!" He kicks off of the blue hero's stomach and lands on one knee. He rams at Sonic only to go head-first into the door. Sonic appears to the left of D.R. and kicks him and sends the evil red hedgehog spiraling into the air but he lands on his hands and back flips to his feet. Sonic rams into D.R. at sonic speed and sends him soaring. Sonic attempts to run at D.R. while he's airborne.

"Sonic, NO!" shouts Red. D.R. puts his hands into the air and uses his only airborne chaos energy attack.

"TERRA BOMB!" He drops the attack on the unsuspected hedgehog kicking up more dust. The heroes in the cells shield themselves from the dust since the attack was a bit closer to them. D.R. lands on his feet and kneels on one knee and hand.

"SONIC!" shouts Shadow.

"You're full of surprises, blue hedgehog! I didn't think you even had enough time to dodge!" The smoke clears and shows Sonic far to the right of D.R.. They are now in the back of the room, behind the energy machine in the center.

"Heh, ya know, you almost killed me. In fact, 10 years ago, a move like that would've killed me too!" said Sonic as he brushes the dust off his cloak.

"Metal Sonic may have failed to kill you off but I'm not a robot! SONIC BLADE!" D.R. thrusts the gray wind at Sonic but all you see is the blue hedgehog's body jerk to the right and the attack destroys a control panel behind him. "SONIC BLADE!" Sonic's body jerks to the left and the attack destroys another machine. "I can keep this up for a while."

"Go for it."

"SONIC BLADE!" Sonic dodges. "SONIC BLADE!" He dodges again. "SONIC BLADE!" And again. "SONIC BLADE!" Sonic dodges repeatedly but D.R. keeps the attack up.

"I can't see a damn thing!" said Shadow. "I wish they blow up the machine so I can see."

"If they blow up that machine, well, I'm not sure what'll happened but I won't be pretty." said Flare.

"Oh, yeah."

"I may not be able to see the fight but I have a pretty good interpretation of what's going on." said Red.

"What?" asks Shadow and Flare in unison.

"Easy, my brother keeps using Sonic Blade and Sonic's phenomenal speed is too fast for it, resulting in a miss."

"Figures." said the black short-tempered hedgehog. "HEY SONIC, HURRY THE HELL UP!"

"Sheesh, Shadow, you sure have changed over the years!" said Sonic as he dodges another sonic blade attack.

"No I haven't, I was always a nice gice…I mean guy!" Flare and Red falls over. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR? I'M ALWAYS NICE AND PATIENT RIGHT?"

"No, Shadow. Just...no." said Red.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN NO?"

"No."

"SOOOOOOOOONIIIIIIIIC BLAAAAADE!" shouts D.R. one last time. "There we go!" This time, the wind has a trail of transparent gray following it.

"Sonic, don't touch that one!"

"No problem!" said Sonic as he leaps over the attack but his leg is skinned by the air around it. "Huh?" From behind, the whole wall has an enormous slash, exposing the outside. "What the hell happened? I didn't even touch that one!"

"You idiot. Serves you right!" exclaims D.R. "That's what I was waiting for."

"What do you mean?"

"As a water and ice element, I don't have full control over the power of my sonic blade so used it repeatedly until the full power version come out. At full power it can slice though almost ANYTHING! The air around the attack is also deadly, if you only moved to the side again, you would've been chopped in half. Lucky son-of-a-bitch!"

"Hey, that's pretty cool. Now feel my wind! My SONIC WIND!" Sonic throws the blue gust at D.R. but he just blocks it.

"Is that the best you go-gaaaaa!" The dark red villain is hurled upwards and spinning out of control. Sonic bounces on the ground hard enough to bounces back up and meet D.R. and spin kicks him toward the ground. THUD! With a hard impact, D.R. lands on the ground on his back. "Oof…uh…uhn." D.R. closes his eyes and Sonic lands.

"Yeah, he's finished!" exclaimed Shadow happily.

"It's over." said Flare with a smile.

"Hmm…" thought Red cautiously.

"There was more to Sonic Wind then just a gust surrounding you, it can also lift you into the air and spin you like a smoothie… That made sense right?" D.R.'s right arm becomes a tentacle and wraps around Sonic's wrist. "H-HEY!" D.R.'s eyes open.

"Thanks for the tip!" he says coldly and lifts Sonic up.

"Hey guy, can't we talk about this?" asks Sonic with a sweat drop.

"My name…!" D.R. slams him hard against the wall. "IS…!" He slams him harder and begins swinging him around. "D.R.!" He slams Sonic through the same wall the Sonic Blade cut through and releases him.

"AAAAHH!" shouts Sonic as he plummets down towards the city streets. D.R. walks over to the cells, huffing and puffing.

"**I **am the most powerful of the Eggman emperor; I mean empire, second to the almighty Dr. Robotnik. No one can defeat us, no one can STOP US, AND NO ONE; ABSOLUTELY **NO ONE will stand in our way not even SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!**"

"You talk the talk." Flare says while rolling her eyes.

"SHUT UP!" Everyone in the cells jump. No one expected him to respond so loudly and quickly. He points to Flare. "You will soon die." He walks over to Red's cell that is in the middle and points to him. "You will soon die." then he walks to Shadow's cell that's on the left. "And oh ho! You definitely know you're gonna die. Oho, yes! You're months…weeks…days…hours…**minutes**…**seconds**…are** numbered**."

"You're really talking a lot of sh-"

"Shut up, Flare!" hisses D.R. as he rushed over to the bronze-eyed hedgehog's cell and bangs on the door. "Ah yes, Flare, the very weak copy of myself..."

"A copy?" asked Shadow. Flare stood quiet.

"Explain, little brother…" said Red

"YOUNGER BROTHER!" retorts D.R.. "Not little. As I was saying, Flare is nothing more than a fake, a clone, an impostor. Something went wrong or strange rather, since she's not deformed. She was supposed to look, act and have the same powers as me but she was inverted, somehow. She was supposed to be a male, a perfect copy of me. But look at her, she's a female and has fire and lava abilities…it's almost the total opposite of me. I consider her a shameful disappointment."

"Flare is this true?" Flare embarassed, looks at the ground without responding.

"OF COURSE IT'S TRUE! She was created against my will. It surprises me why she's still standing here today, she was developed in an artificial egg, her cellular structure should've collapsed about 10 years ago and even now, she's still pretty and intact looking. They must've developed the perfect egg but the reason she has my blood and is not exactly like me is unknown. I'd go to the facility and ask questions myself but I never knew where it was since I was drugged on my way there and during my escape, I didn't pay enough attention to remember when it was. Nevertheless, just as almost everything in life, Flare, mistakes must be deleted or destroyed and recreated. All the more reason I want you dead."

"That's too bad for you, huh?" asked Shadow.

"Hmph! Shadow the Hedgehog, the so called 'Ultimate Life'. That fall in the atmosphere fooled everyone except for me, it's pretty obvious you teleported to safety, I saw the flash!"

"What are you talking about?"

"You're suffering from amnesia, even now. However, you were one of those injected with he bug to keep you from remembering anything so good luck in straining your memory, hero, YOU'RE USELESS WITHOUT IT!"

"Hey! What the HELL ARE YOU GOING ON ABOUT?"

"Now, for you, Red, you're nothing special, you're just my brother." D.R. opens his wrist comm.. "Silver, come in." He doesn't receive a response. "Yo, silverware! Ah, he must be busy." D.R. shuts off his comm.. A bright green flash occurs next to him. "What the-" When he flash clear Sonic bolts out and rams D.R. with incredible speed, into the energy machine. "Oof!" D.R. reverses with a double kick to Sonic's ribs, knocking the speedy hedgehog back a little. "I don't understand. First off, how did you survive that ordeal with Metal Sonic and second, how the hell did you survive that fall?" Sonic smirks.

"Well what can I say? I die hard!" says Sonic as he start going at D.R. with a barrage of fast punches but D.R. only blocks and dodges them all

"He's amazing!" says Flare who seemed to get her spark back.

"HAHA! D.R., you're in for an ass whooping this time!" shouts Shadow happily.

"Even I taught you to finish your opponents thoroughly before celebrating." said Red calmly. "This serves you right."

"You fast ass blue speedy bastard!" growls D.R. as he ducks under Sonic's punch and used that opening to uppercut the blue hero. "I have just the move for you!" Sonic jumps up and begin homing in on D.R. in a sphere of blue. "BUBBLE TRAP!" D.R. blows millions of tiny sticky bubbles, which attach to Sonic as Sonic uncurls and lands, his body engulfed in water-filled bubbles.

"What? Hey, what's going on?" asked Sonic as he tried to move but was moving slowly. "My-my speed!"

"I was afraid he'd do that sooner or later." said Red.

"Oh no…" says Flare.

"Kick his ass, Sonic!" shouts Shadow.

"HAHAHAHAHA! That's what you get for depending on your speed too much! Now the tide has turned on you…" Sonic begin chuckling and then laughing. "The humorous part is…?"

"I can bite the bubbles and free myself." said Sonic and he started gnawing on one of the bubbles but it's like biting water; no effect.

"Feel free to waste your time, bubbles only pop when I'm hit or when I attack you."

"OK! Sonic Wind!" D.R. blocks the attack again but this time, he spin dashes as the wind lifts him and breaks the bubbles. "Oh no!" D.R. lands, facing the opposite direction but turns to Sonic and releases then spinning attack on Sonic, slicing him greatly. "Ouch…NO!" Sonic stands up and D.R. back flips far away from Sonic and stops but drops to his knee, gets down on one arm and begins panting.

_"Wow, I ain't never expected the hedgehog to be THIS strong. He's taking a lot out of me! I know! I'll just dodge those Sonic Winds…that attack alone is taking too much from me." _D.R. stands up. "You're a lot stronger than I imagined, maybe even too strong! You must be eliminated NOW! The Eggman empire cannot fall to one who plans on jeopardizing this country!" D.R. leaps to Sonic and kicks him then does his bubble trap technique again. Sonic throws a punch but the speed bubbles are slowing the punch down so D.R. moves his head and begins pounding on the defenseless hedgehog until he draws blood and then D.R. jumps back a fair distance from Sonic. "Hmhmhm! I know you couldn't beat me." D.R. runs next to Sonic and stops at a side view, they are seemingly back-to-back.

"Uh oh!" Sonic quickly curls into a ball

"I'll make this extremely painful! Prepare for ICE BLADE!" D.R.'s arms become two sickles and D.R. began slashing at Sonic with quick and agile moves. Slush! Slush! You can hear the sick slashing noise each time D.R. slashes Sonic. "How about uncurling yourself and letting me slash your throat?"

"SONIC!" Flare cries out.

"SONIC! Wait, if you, Red, and Flare can break out of these doors then you guys can help Sonic!" exclaims Shadow.

"For once, Shadow is thinking!" cries N.

"Hey! He's right." Flare agrees.

"What do you say, Red?" Shadow asks.

"No." Red answers sternly. "I'm sure Sonic has everything under control. Don't get in his way."

"But look at him!" cried Shadow. "HE'S GETTING SLAUGHTERED!" Red smirks.

"He's grown, he can handle himself."

"Sometimes I can't understand you."

"Nor I, you."

"Wait, I get what you mean, Red, I can feel something rising!" gasps Flare.

"I feel a bit overwhelmed but I still don't know what it is." says Shadow.

"You'll see." said Red. D.R. continues hacking and slashing away until he begins to slow down.

_"Damn, my power's running low, I need some time to heal. I fought too much today! I'll just kill off Sonic and then I'm off to sleep…well, I'll eat first and then sleep, I'm kinda hungry and it's getting late, not that I have a curfew." _D.R. thought to himself. "Alright Sonic, time for me to finish this!" D.R. runs up the energy machine as Sonic uncurls. The blue hedgehog is slashed all over his quills, the back of his cloak is torn and bloodied.

"SONIC WIND!" cried Sonic as he unleashes his main attack. This time the attack appears around D.R.'s waist but he jumps off the machine and lands.

"!" He notices the blue glow in Sonic's hands.

"HEDGEHOG BEAM FULL POWER!" D.R. only has time to block his mid body level with the side of his elbow when a huge jagged-edge blue beam rushes from Sonic's hands towards the dark red hedgehog but it's sliced into two hitting only his head and legs.

"Whoa!" says Shadow.

"So that's what he was holding in, huh? COOL! That attack is pretty." says Flare.

"I didn't expect him to use a full-powered version." said Red. "Dark Red is blocking it though, it's nearly impossible to deflect an attack of that magnitude like that by hand."

"What? But even if he blocks it, he's toast, right?"

"Hmm, I don't know what Eggman did to him, I can't say. Under normal circumstances my answer would be yes."

"Come on, Sonic! You can do it!"

"HAHAHA! You'll eventually run out of chaos energy! I feel it now, every second you're rapidly being drained. Just how long can you keep this up?" the evil hedgehog taunts.

"As long as I CAN!" shouts Sonic. With that, Sonic's attack fades and he collapses to one knee and begins panting. "Well…I held it as long as I could…" D.R. is still standing, unfazed by the massive beam and giant hole in the wall behind him. He smiles evilly.

"!" everyone in the cells are astounded.

"But he got blasted in the face, this is just STUPID! HOW STRONG IS THIS GUY!?" cries the black hedgehog. Sonic smiles.

"Well, it's over for me. HAHAHA! I have no regrets." says Sonic.

"I…don't…understand…" Flare cries and falls to her knees.

"It doesn't make sense, no one can stand a beam that strong to the face without a least falling back." states Red as he began to think.

"Hmph! It's the end for you all...! I let you all use your bag of goodies, now I'll use...mine..." D.R. says quietly. He takes one step forward and his expression changes from proud to grimace. "I…cannot…LOSE!" He collapses to his knees and opens his wrist comm. "SIIIRR!"

"What is it, Dark Red?" asks Eggman.

"Sir…he's back….Sonic's ba…ack!" D.R. lands on the rest of his body unconscious and closes the wrist comm. in the process.

"I guess it was a façade." Flare states with a sigh of relief.

"Well, he's positively down now." said Red.

"I knew the guy was faking all along!" exclaims Sonic. When he tries to stand the sting from all his slashes kept him from moving. "Ouch!"

"Shadow, Flare, touch the wall next to my cell." They two hedgehog does so as red takes out his bronze emerald. "Chaos Teleport!" In a bright flash, they're all warped out of the cell and Red goes over to Sonic. "Bronze Heal!" In a flash, Sonic's cuts heal rapidly.

"Hey thanks!"

"Don't mention it."

"First, we need to get somewhere safe."

"Agreed." everyone said simultaneously.

"Sonic, come in, this is Sonia." said Sonia from Sonic's radio. "Those robots gave us hell but we destroyed another power plant, it seems the city is now losing much more power than before!"

"Nice work, get back to the base. I'm returning myself…well, with some company."

"Wait, where's Na- I meant, N?" asks Shadow.

"I'm surprised you care, Shadow." said N as she came from the opposite side of the machine. "I was trying to shut down this machine but can't seem to find a switch or control panel."

"All right, so are we all set to go?" asked Sonic.

"Yeah!" everyone else said in unison.

"Good, because we're going through that hole that D.R. made. Everyone, hold hands!" Everyone holds hands and Sonic zooms off with everyone in tow.

Unknown location.

"You took a lot longer than expected." said Mighty as he turned around. "Hm? Who are they?"

"These guys are one of the few rebel groups left!" said Sonic as he cuts the lights on.

"Fine by me. I hope you're all any real use to us."

"Then it's settled, we'll wait here until tomorrow."

"But what if we don't have time?" asks Red.

"We do have time, Eggman won't find us here."

"All right, everyone choose a wall or corner and get some rest. Sorry we don't have beds ready, we just recently got into the place." said Sonic.

"WHAT?" Asked all the arriving heroes.

"Uh, I think it's the afternoon." states Shadow while scratching the back of his head.

"The city is on high alert, all street ares closed and the place is swarming with robots, there ain't much we can do until tomorrow." Manic says.

"Yeah, we had to take on tons of Eggman's robots, I'm worn-out." says Sonia.

"Besides, the cell beds are a lot harder than the ground. I been in one briefly, boy did it suck!"

"Heh, good point." said Flare as she goes to a corner and curled up into a ball.

"Sleep well, everyone." said Mighty as he leans back in the chair and dozes off.

This is the end of the first Arc but NOT the end of the story! I recommend reading The Beginnings before continuing from chapter 21 and on.


	21. Renewed Resolve

Chapter 21: Renewed Resolve

"Whoa! I got that shiver again but this time it's a hell of a lot stronger than before." says Shadow while shaking.

"Wait, I sense it too!" exclaims Sonic.

"Damn, now I sense it!" says Flare. Mighty gets up from his chair, nervous.

"Stop fooling around... Huh-guys?" He asks them but then he too begins to sense it.

"CRAP! EVERYONE ON GUARD!" shouts Red. Manic and Sonia jump out their chairs soon afterwards. Suddenly, the door gets blown to the wall on the opposite side of the room. A strong wind circulates the room clearing the smoke.

"Well, well, well, looks like the punks were having a party and we weren't invited! That makes me feel left out!" Silver growls as he walks in. "How'd you know they were in here, Amy?"

"It's part of my ability." says Amy, following him in. "I feel something…" she looks around the sharply and quickly looks at Sonic who gives a friendly wave and a warm smile. She rushes over to him in a fit of rage and grasps him by the neck. "I knew I'd find you here! Do you think I forgot who you are you blue bastard!?"

"Heh…ack…hi, Amy, you sure have changed over the years…and…my…ack…you've gotten a lot stronger too…! Heh heh…" Sonic croaks.

"Amy…? Wh-what happened to you?" asks N, concerned. Amy shoots a glare at N. Silver steps in front of Amy, coming in between their view of each other.

"She's... had a change of heart! The type of change that only the Empire can give her!" Silver replies with a smug grin.

"You think you're funny huh?" Amy shouts at Sonic. In a brief fit of rage she slams Sonic so hard into the wall that debris and gravel fly out the wall and leave and imprint of the blue hero.

"Bro!" cries Manic. "Why YOU! Gah!" He runs to help but Silver intercepts with a high kick to the chin so hard that it makes Manic do a back-flip before landing face-first.

"Grr!" Flare grunts in frustration as she conjures up a fireball and Red gets ready to fight. Silver smiles readily.

"Bring it." he says confidently.

"No!" Sonic cries out, catching his breath. "Everyone... don't! No fighting! Just listen to what they say, I won't have anyone else getting hurt because of me."

"But Sonic-" Sonia says but Sonic cuts her off.

"No, Sonia, it's not worth losing anyone over it, just listen to them. Everyone stop, please."

"…fine." Flare reluctantly dispels the fireball.

"Yeah, he's wise for someone so young." comments Red as he disengages from his battle stance.

"A wise decision." Silver says with a shrug. "Not a fun one but a smart one. Everyone line up now!" Everyone does so, Amy grabs Sonic and forces him to the line before he gets up himself.

"SURPRISE!" shouts D.R. as he leaps directly from the sewer water and into the room while aiming his assault weapon everywhere only to see the situation already taken care of. "Hey, no fair! You ruined my surprise attack!"

"Well you should've came here first then, nyah!"

"Whatever man." He glances around the room while walking around it. "I see you've managed to make some friends, Dr. Robotnik won't be pleased. Your rebellious actions could be a threat." He spots Sonia. "Hm? Hey, I see we've got ourselves a pretty one." He walks over to her and smells her neck. "Mmm…nice perfume from the outer parts of the city…not sure how you managed to get it but oh well..." He begins rubbing his cheeks against hers. "So…soft and…smooth…it's sexy." Sonia shifts uncomfortably then he starts rubbing slowly on her legs.

"Now's not the time for that, idiot."

"You're right." he immediately gets off of her.

"Now, do the honors of teleporting us to the cell room, D.R.."

"No problem, now where do I put that emerald…" D.R. searches through his pockets.

_"Damn it, I knew they'd find us if we sat around here all day!"_ Mighty thinks to himself. _"Glad I concealed a knife, I'll just KILL the closest one to me before we teleport. Screw what Sonic says."_

"Ah, here it is." He raises the golden emerald over his head. "CHAOS TELEPORT!" The instant the emerald flashes, Mighty begins to move.

Egg Fortress, the cell room.

The view shows pans around an enormous room with cells all lined up from one side to the other, across each other and even staircases leading to cells on the upper floors. A flash occurs in the middle of the room, when it dies everyone appears but Mighty is on the floor in the fetal position with Silver stomping on his back.

"You stupid little BITCH!" sneers Silver while stomping on his back with slow but deadly blows. Everyone turns to them dumbfounded.

"Silver, what the hell-?" D.R. starts but Silver interrupts.

"THIS BASTARD ACTUALLY HAD THE BALLS TO TRY TO STAB ME! I HOPE YOU DIE ON YOUR OWN BLADE YOU IGNORANT ARMADILLO!" He kicks Mighty over so he's on his back, in his stomach stood a firmly planted knife; blood is oozing from the wound.

"My god, he'll need medical attention quickly!" cries Sonia.

"Go play nurse then! I hope that Egg Master deals with him first; I'll take my time killing this punk unlike that human!" He presses a button on a remote control looking device and all the cell doors on the floor open up. "In! ALL OF YOU! NOW! I don't care how you do it, just get in!" Everyone hurries into random cells except for Sonia and Mighty. Oh right, he can't move! Allow me to lend a hand!" He lifts the red armadillo up and hurls him into the cell, Sonia goes in with him. Silver presses the button and all the cells close. "If any more of you try any of that heroic bull crap, I'll kill you all!" he storms out the room.

"Hmm, you guys suck." jokes D.R. "Squirt, squirt, squirt!" D.R. spits drops of cold water on Mighty.

"Stop it!" shouts Sonia. She rips off a large piece of her shirt and wipes the water off the fallen armadillo.

"Oooh. Feisty lil thang aren't ya? Exciting! I'll definitely check you out later." He smirks and runs out the door. Amy also starts to exit but then she stops in front of Sonic's cell which is closest to the door.

"So Amy, when's chow time?" says Sonic with a chuckle. Amy glares powerfully at the blue hedgehog which makes his smile instantly fade and strikes a bit of fear in him as she looks into the dead center of his eyes.

"Everything's a joke to you, isn't it?" she asks."

"Well not really but-"

"Everything about you is fun, laughter, and games, huh?"

"I…I-"

"You treat everything, like it's 'fun', the way you run around, fight Eggman and even play WITH MY HEART!"

"…"

"Every time I poured my heart out to you you play it off or run away like I want to play hide and seek! I BET YOU GO OFF AND LAUGH ABOUT IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!" Amy approaches the cell, Sonic moves back slowly. "I try, Sonic, I try so damn hard to keep up with you, to keep loving you, TO GET YOU TO NOTICE ME! But all you like to do is run and be free and have fun, you act like you don't have time to even LISTEN!" Sonic backs all the way to the wall with the look of fear in his eyes. "If you don't love me, Sonic, then why? WHY GO THROUGH THE TROUBLE OF RUSHING TO MY RESCUE? ON THE DAMN ARK you could have let Eggman blast my brains out if you wanted too, but you rushed to save me." She bangs on the bars, denting them.

"Because, he's a hero, that's his job! If you don't like it, too damn bad!" Shadow shouts. Amy slowly glares at Shadow then her eyes glow purple. Upon seeing this, Shadow his right arm starts twitching as a purple aura encircles it. "Huh?" SMACK! Suddenly, Shadow slaps his hand to his mouth extremely hard.

_"Telekinesis? She's pretty formidable…Seems she's strong up close and from a distance."_ Flare thinks to herself.

"You disappear for TEN long and grueling years and then suddenly show up just to say "HI"! UGH! You don't give a damn about ANYONE BUT **YOURSELF! **It doesn't matter anymore! I spent too many years thinking that we would've been perfect and that we are meant to be and you KNOW that we are, you just don't wanna be a man and face it! **I HATE YOU SONIC!**" Sonic jumps at the word 'hate'. "I've finally figured out everything though. The secret to your selfishness is your speed, your friends, and your love for adventure! I'll ask Dr. Eggman if he can let me deal with you, I'm sure he'll gladly accept...heheh. The empire has given me more than you ever have. I'll take those things away from you one-by-one until you have nothing left. Then you'll feel the pain I've endured." Amy starts for the door then stops. "And to think… Eggman could never beat you... BUT I CAN CRUSH YOU WITH THE PALM **OF MY HAND!" **CRACK! Amy shouts then thrust her left palm towards Sonic but only the wall behind him gets shattered with an imprint of Amy's glove but several times bigger. Surprisingly Sonic isn't hit. Sonic looks at the print and trembles. "This won't be our last meeting; You'd better stay alive until then." She walks quietly but fiercely out the room, there is now an awkward silence. No one is really sure to ask Mighty, Sonic or Shadow if any of them are alright. Shadow is finally able to remove his hand.

"Man, what a bitch..." moans Shadow his voice echoing in the silence.

12:37 PM, that afternoon.

Sonia is looking at Mighty's wounds, he is now unconscious. A puddle of water enters their cell. Sonia gasps but the puddle forms into Red.

"How's he holding up?" he asks.

"Not so good." Sonia replies. "The blood loss was heavy; it made him lose consciousness. He might not survive his wounds..."

"Hmm." Red digs in his vest pocket and takes out his bronze emerald. He mutters "Bronze Heal." while hovering the emerald over Mighty and a light engulfs Mighty. "I've eased his wounds; it's all I can do but we'll see if it works. The healing speed depends on how deadly the wound is."

"I see... Will it be fast or slow?"

"Fast since it may be fatal. If only we had Dark Red's golden emerald."

"What will that do?"

"It will energize him and completely heal his wound as if nothing happened. What I've done was to help him speed his recovery." Red puts the emerald back into his vest then stands up. "Alright everyone, listen up!" Everyone's ears perk up, ready to listen. "If we are going to get through this alive, we'll need all the help we can get!"

"Me and N have tried that. Too many people are afraid of the Eggman." says Flare.

"But we are NOT! I'm certain you all were too at some point! We've all come this far and we can go further!"

"He…has a point…" mumbles N. Red liquefies and leaves the cell the reforms in the hall.

"We can win, we have a good enough team. Sonic and Shadow were both a part of the ARK incident a few years back." Red continues. He then goes over to Shadow's cell. "If we are going to do this we'll need you at your full potential!"

"My what?" asks Shadow confused.

"We NEED your memory back! You're a lot stronger than you let yourself believe! I know that and a part of you knows that!"

"I…guess so?" Red takes out his bronze emerald.

"This! Does you know what this is?"

"T-That's a….a-a-a chaos…" As Shadow is speaking his head sparks a bit with each active thought.

"Stop! Don't think!"

"Ok..?" Red strokes his chin in thought.

"I don't think whatever that is in your head can detect what you remember, I think it detects when you think of the word "'chaos'! I think that device has its limits."

"Yeah." exclaims Manic in excitement. "I see where's he's going with this."

"Exactly." says Red with a confident grin. "I think Dr. Eggman remembers Shadow's powers from that time and still wants him around! So whatever device he implanted in Shadow is only enough to erase his memory and keep him from knowingly using his chaos energy! Not enough to actually kill him!"

"Oh, course!" yells Sonic excitement then he goes to his cell bars. His silence is now broken. "All of Shadow's attacks are based on the word 'chaos'! If I know Shadow well, he won't team up with Eggman again! The egghead knows it and probably sees him as a threat to his operations!"

"Just think, Shadow, where were you after the ARK incident?"

"Well, I remember taking a nasty fall through the atmosphere and…" His head starts to spark. "Ugh…"

"It seems to react on his memories about the ARK too!"

"Hey, if that thing isn't as strong as you say, maybe you can overload it!" shouts Sonia.

"Right!" exclaims Sonic and everyone agrees.

"Shadow." Red calls in a very serious tone. "No matter how much it hurts, you have to remember! You can overload that thing with your brain! All you have to do is keep remembering! Now COME ON! TELL US WHAT HAPPENED!"

"I…I…!" As Shadow starts to remember, his body gets engulfed in electricity. "AAAGGGH!"

"CMON SHADOW! FREE YOURSELF! TELL US EVERYTHING YOU REMEMBER!"

"I….I FELL! AAAGH!"

"Where? To the Earth?"

"AAAGH…YES!" Shadow falls to the ground while still engulfed and holding his head in agony.

"How…how did you survive?"

"AAAGGGH! AAAGH!"

"CMON! YOU'RE STRONGER THAN IT!"

"I…I HAVE AN EMERALD!"

"An emerald?"

"IT….AAAAAGH….PR….PRO…PROTECTED ME!"

"Do you still have the emerald?"

"I DOOOOO! AAAAAAAAAAH!" _ZZZZZZTTTT! _Suddenly Shadow suffers a huge shock and the electricity stops. Shadow's body lays motionless with smoke raising from it. Everyone watches in anticipation. Sonia, whose cell is across from Shadow's, watches in awe. Red liquefies into the cell then reforms back and kneels to Shadow and lifts his head. Shadow's head turns sideways and a black chip falls out, burnt. Red picks it up, examines it then places it in his vest.

"Is he…?" Sonia began. Red checks Shadow's pulse while listening to his chest.

"He's fine. This device won't harm him anymore. The circuitry is completely burned." Red replies calmly as he rests Shadow's body down gently then reforms into water and goes back to his own cell. "I sense someone coming." Then the exit door slides open and Silver enters.

"Well, wel,l well, I hope you all enjoyed your moment in prison because it looks like you all don't have to wait a day or so to be let out." he says. Everyone murmurs their own version of "Why?". "Don't get yourselves so excited! What I'm saying is the good doctor will be here by tonight and has found a good way to strengthen the empire and will do away with such evil ones as yourselves!"

"Evil!" shouts N in an outrage. "You're calling us evil? After all the things you've done?" Silver walks over to her cell. "You and that red bastard both executed my friend, T!"

"Ma'am? We only do our job. Nothing will ever happen if you all just stay at your workplace and work happily."

"Maybe it's because none of us are happy!" shouts Sonia.

"Doesn't give you all the right to cause conflict and confusion. If you're unhappy about where you work at then take it up with the big man, I'm sure he'll grant you a position elsewhere."

"How can you be so nonchalant being that you and Dark Red are the only ones that don't have to work like the rest?" asks Red flatly.

"Oh we work, we're doing our best to enforce the laws around here; no law will go disobeyed while we're here."

"I find it impossible that only you can do it alone. It's a whole country, you know."

"Heh heh heh!"

"What's so funny?"

"You people, the city folk."

"You lost me there." said Sonic.

"Apparently, I have. One person can't rule a country alone, so to keep certain areas in check we have other branches."

"My lord…" gasps Red. "You mean the empire isn't just made up of You, Dark Red, and Dr. Eggman?"

"Are you kidding? HAHAHAHAHAHA! Wow, the city really wasn't informed about this? I don't think you know what the word 'empire' means! There are a bunch of us all across the country! Me and D.R. are just the strongest, though I have to admit some of them are more unique and very... interesting."

"Oh no…" gasps N as she backs up. Silver walks back and forth while explaining more.

"Even if some of them aren't really true member of the empire yet."

"Why?" asks Red.

"Some of them have been through the conversion yet. Chaos enhancers and the sort."

"Chaos enhancers…? That means all the members are anthrops!"

"Yeah, heh. A few humans too. We keep our some of our robots with them juuust in case, ya know? Eggman only truly trusts us since we've already been through the chaos enhancers and are super-powered by them. We are the crown achievements to Eggman and the empire!"

"It's evident..." Beep! Beep! An alarmed beeps on Silver's new replaced wrist comm. "Ah, well, I doubt ya'll be able to meet the other members anyway since I'm 100% sure that the greatness will grant you all an execution. Later, punks!" Silver walks out the room then comes back and walks to Shadow's cell. "Huh, no wonder he was so quiet. Must've had a major memory crisis. Sucks to be him." He shrugs and leaves again.

"Damn it!" shouts Red in frustration as he punches the walls. "This fight is gonna be a hell of a lot harder than I expected…"

"No…" groans Mighty as he slowly rises. "That arrogant bastard…he said a little more than…" he stumbles a bit. "...he was supposed to…"

"No, Mighty, rest." pleads Sonia. He leans against the wall for support.

"I'll be fine… That silver hedgehog ego is so huge that he feels he can say anything; he gave us more information than he probably should have and that can play to our advantage."

"Yeah." Sonic agreed. "If we can destroy the chaos enhancers then other members can't be converted and hopefully we can get them on our side."

I'm gonna be very honest with you, Sonic. That plan sounds good but, what good will it do if others like Silver and my brother get in our way? As he mentioned, there are some who already went through the process. I was hoping there were only robots in the empire along with the three we've seen." Red says while rubbing his chin.

"I'm sure…the empire consists of many strong chaos fighters." says Mighty as he lets out a long sigh. "Too bad I'm only a regular armadillo, I'd be more help to you guys."

"You'll be a help to us. As Red said, we'll need all the help we can get!" said Sonic while giving him a thumbs up.

"I'll…do my best."

"Heh, I did say that didn't I?" Red asks with a chuckle. "It's not like me to worry like that. Hell, I think the challenge would be fun. Who's down for smashing Eggman when he comes?"

"I'm game!" shouts Sonic. "I wanna make Eggman pay for what he did to Amy!"

"We've put him down before, we can do it again!" cries Manic.

"After all these years a real rebellion finally starts…heh, a little behind schedule, but I'm in." says N with a smirk. "Besides, he murdered a dear friend of mine, payback is essential."

"Since my brothers are in, I'm in too!" exclaims Sonia.

"I was never against it, let's do this." says Flare. Mighty falls to one knee.

"I'm in for as long as I can live…" he says.

"We gotta get you healed, Mighty." says Red sternly. "I think I know how to get Dark Red's emerald without him noticing it yet."

"What do you mean 'yet'?" asks Flare.

"I'll explain it some other time, we'll just have to wait for now. I hope this plan will be full proof when Shadow wakes up, we'll just have to see…"


	22. Exiled

Chapter 22: Exiled

7:38PM, that evening.

Silver walks into the cell room followed by D.R. and Eggman. They all quietly make their way pass the other cells and goes straight to Shadow's cell.

"...And this punk got knocked out pretty bad. I guess there was really something that triggered his memory this time." Silver continues on whatever conversation he was having before he entered the room.

"I figured this would happen someday." Eggman says. "If he wakes, he might resist like before and not want to join the empire. Well, I guess he'll be the guinea pig for my next experiment for what I've found."

"Wasn't Tails with you, sir?" asks D.R..

"Correct, he found it but it's not like that little detail is important. Heh heh heh!" They all share a chuckle. Eggman presses a button to open Shadow's cell. "Take him to the lab, boys, testing will begin immediately!" D.R. and Shadow lifts the black hedgehog.

"What the hell do you plan on doing with him?" asks N.

"I suppose I can explain it to the feeble-minded…but then again I'd rather have you killed...again. Hmph, you're very persistent, you should have beeb melted to the blast room floor by now."

"I'll take my chances, I know I won't die in your clutches." Eggman approaches her menacingly.

"Hey! You forgot to say hello to your best buddy, Sonic!" exclaims Sonic banging on his cell bars. Eggman looks at Sonic in awe.

"My goodness…!" gasps the evil doctor slowly. "Sonic…it's very pleasant to see you again…I-I thought you died long ago. You've grown so much!"

"Cut the crap, Egghead! You knew I was alive all along!"

"What's makes you think that? I watched Metal Sonic blast you into next year, ya know."

"Oh yeah? So what's this!" Sonic digs into his cloak pocket and drops 3 mechanical fly-like robots. Eggman frowns at the sight quietly. "You had these things flying after Shadow, N and anyone else you remembered from ten years back! Admit it! You didn't have enough faith in that bucket of bolts to think he'll kill me so you've sent these to spy on everyone just in case I decided to show up. Really low don'tcha think? Especially for an evil genius', I was one step ahead of you! These toys couldn't find me even if they tried. Heh heh!"

"I see…Dark Red! Silver!"

"Yes?" They both replied before reaching the exit.

"Silence-this-despicable-rodent-immediately!" Both nod and approach his cell as Eggman leaves. They sit Shadow down, Silver reaches for his sword as D.R. reaches for his Magnum.

"Sonic!" cries Sonia and N. Sonic smirks.

"Heh, heh, heh." he chuckles and raises his hand to reveal a power ring. Sonic grips tightly and begins glowing with a white aura until he's forced into a super sonic spin and dashes his way through the cell bars, knocking both evil hedgehogs down in the process. Clank clank clank! All the cell bar pieces fall to the floor. "C'mon everyone, we're bustin' outta here!" Sonic dashes around the room at light speed, destroying all the cell bars.

"Eggerman! We need to initiate code red in the Egg Fortress!" cries Silver into his wrist comm.

"You got a new wrist comm., good call." grunts D.R. as he quickly stands up. "Let's get him-WHAT? They're all gone!" Silver looks up to sees no one around. "Damn it! DID YA'LL HAVE TO TAKE SHADOW WITH YA?" D.R. hastily opens his wrist comm. "Sir, they've made off with Shadow and escaped!"

"No worries, head to the front of the fortress." the evil doctor replies calmly.

"Ok…" D.R. takes out his golden emerald, grabs Silver then uses his chaos teleport move to the front of the fortress.

Outside in front of the Egg Fortress.

"Wow!" exclaims D.R. excitedly.

"Whoa, nice." comments Silver. All the rebels are captured with 3 light-like ropes wrapped around their bodies and are facing the guns of many, enormous Egg-robos while on their knees and Sonic is stuck with a water cube around his legs.

"Damn you, Eggman! How did you-" growls Sonic as he works his legs into an ultra fast run but to no success.

"OHOHOHOOOOOOOO!" laughs Eggman stupidly as he jumps around in his Eggmobile. "Water is the ultimate speed trap eh, Sonic? How do you like my new Egg-Robos?"

"Shut up, stupid egghead! Do with me as you want, you're my fight! Let the others go!"

"Oh we'll get to that soon enough, Sonic." Out of a flash, a broken Metal Sonic appears in front of Sonic. "First, I think Metal Sonic would like to have some fun for a little while."

"Heh heh! You still haven't fixed this rust bucket since last time? I'll tear him to pieces even more than what he is now! I've trained just for this!" The cube around Sonic's feet dissolves and Eggman throws the star-like device over Sonic's head which releases the blue barrier around the two. Sonic goes into a spin dash.

"Don't be so hasty, Sonic, would you like to hear about what really happened those long years ago?"

"Huh?" Sonic stops spinning and looks at Eggman in surprise. "Watcha talkin' 'bout?"

"Heh heeeeh…you don't really think I'd keep scrap metal around for all these years do you?"

"Yeah."

"HAHAHA! Alright Proto-Sonic, your time is over…" With that, the broken Metal Sonic explodes; Sonic shields himself from the flying robot parts.

"Kuu...what was that all about?"

"You still don't get it do you? For a speedy hedgehog you sure are slow." Eggman presses a button on his remote then the pieces fade out and the real improved Metal Sonic fades into existence.

"Nice toy you got there. It's a shame I'll have to break it!"

"Wait, there really was a switch that day? I thought you were bluffing!" cries N in shock.

"You thought wrong, my dear, the very Proto-Sonic you just saw was the very one Sonic fought that day. The plan was that Sonic would thrash it all about until he tired out then the real one would come in for the finishing blow!" exclaims Eggman happily.

"**WHAT!**" Sonic sneers as he glares hard at Eggman and balls his fist. "You won't get away with this, Eggman!"

"Things went far better than I expected. LOOK AT ME NOW! I'M IN CONTROL OF EVERYTHING IN THIS COUNTRY AND SOON **THE WORLD!**" Sonic's fist is shaking with anger. "Don't like it, huh? It's not my fault you're so stupid! GROW UP, Sonic! The times are changing, hedgehog! It is not my fault that your disappearance has put his country in some state of 'misery'…when it all comes down to it…who is resisting? Who is complaining about the way things are going? Only your group. I don't see anyone else complaining. Well, anyone that's alive that is. HAHAHA!"

"Grr!" Sonic growls. "That does it Eggman, you're finished! He punches the barrier walls. "You're DEAD once I get you!"

"That's not a very nice thing to say, Metal Sonic, please show him some manners."

"Fine, I'll tear you apart first!" Before Sonic makes a move, he gets kicked hard into the barrier wall. He crouches in the fetal position. "Lucky…" WACK! Sonic gets punched on his forehead and sent to the ground. "You freaking…grrr!" Sonic jumps and homing attacks Metal Sonic but he's caught in ball mode and Metal Sonic kicks him into the barrier wall which makes Sonic uncurl in pain.

"Hit him with your weapon, Metal Sonic!" Metal Sonic's right arm retracts and expands into a pole with two rods at the end. WRRRR! A red energy ball begins to form in between the rods.

"Sonic move!" shrieks Sonia. Sonic attempts to move but it's too late! With a loud roar Metal Sonic fires the attack so he only has time to block. BOOOOOM! The powerful explosion sends debris all around inside the shield but the wind carries itself outside of it.

"Direct hit." Metal Sonic announces.

"That was a pretty powerful hit, but I've seen better." mumbles Red. The smoke clears and Sonic is on his back facing the sky, panting.

"Now that you've been rehabilitated, let's see what public opinion really has to say to you rebels." gloats Eggman. The robots step aside and a bunch of citizens come forth. "They've wanted to call a meeting with you all since the beginning but with my busy schedule and you all running around and blowing up my power plants and all, I really couldn't keep up until now. You may speak." Eggman dispels the barrier.

"Heh, so what will you guys say that Eggman hasn't already toldja to say?" chuckles Sonic with one eye open.

"Actually, Sonic, we really have made this decision on our own." said a man stepping forward his eyes seem unfocused.

"Even though we are under constant working conditions and poor clothing we are safe from outside attacks and Eggman does offer us the proper warmth and food during the winter." said a woman whose eyes are also unfocused.

"Everything you guys do makes Eggman angry; we have to suffer for it."

"…" most of the rebels are all speechless and look slightly ashamed. Red on the other hand is looking at the crowd attentively.

_"Something just doesn't feel right..."_ Red thinks to himself.

"Now! This is the first time I've done this since there haven't been a buncha losers around like you guys…" said Eggman. He then clears his throat, takes out a pen and begins writing something down on an important looking piece of paper. "It's been decreed by the president that I first try to deal with 'rebels' myself first but if I can't handle them then I must remove them to the contents of the Korubian desert." Eggman sighs. "Then they'll wish they were all in the city once again… the nights and days there can get intense."

"'President'? What do you mean!?" N asks angrily. Before Eggman responds, Sonic jumps back to his feet.

"Now I see what's going on! These citizens are actually robots! Watch!" shouts Sonic. Eggman mumbles something unheard. He works himself into a supersonic spin and rolls fast at a little girl in the crowd but he's quickly interrupted by an explosion in his path. Sonic slowly glares over at Metal Sonic as the robot powers down its weapon. "Why…you!" Sonic rushes through the smoke and rams into Metal Sonic as hard as he can until Metal Sonic finally falls into the moat in front of the Egg Fortress. The crowd gasps. Sonic angrily turns to Eggman. "YOU'RE NEXT!"

"SONIC!" shouts Sonia and Manic at the same time. As if relieved of a spell Sonic stops abruptly in his tracks.

"Huh?"

"It's in your best interest to cease now, Sonic." says Red calmly. The view switches over to the crowd where you see the girl is now burnt and hurt from the explosion. Sonic stares in shock and runs over but suddenly Metal Sonic jumps out the water and lands in front of him. "Outta my way. She's hurt!"

"Don't come near us, Sonic!" commands a man from the crowd angrily.

"I never knew Sonic would attack the people he's supposed to protect!" says another person in the crowd. Then angry murmurs are exchanged.

"Heh heh heh, Sonic. You really are one amazing hedgehog. You went from long-lost hero to a returning psychopathic terrorist all in a few minutes. That's why you're call the fastest thing alive huh?"

"I-" before Sonic began Eggman interrupted.

"Well, we've dallied around here long enough, I have things to attend to! Sonic, you have two choices: Either you leave the city and head to Korubia or stay in the city and work for me forever! The latter doesn't look like a good choice right now but no more of these so-called rebellions will be tolerated anymore, you hear me?"

"Eggman…" Sonic sighs and smiles bitterly. "I know how terrible things are with you in complete control of everything and so does everyone else…but if these people are all willing to live under you to be safe then I don't blame them. But **I **refuse to live around my worst enemy let alone work for him!" Sonic chuckles then starts laughing happily. "Now the world knows it don't they?"

"Why…What do you mean?" Sonic points to the sky.

"I can tell there's a camera around somewhere here. Metal Sonic did the same thing to me ten years ago. Face it Egghead, for once it looks like you win. You guys got me good. I'm not sure if everyone here is behind me but I won't mind being in the desert for a while. I'll take my leave with the last bit of dignity I have left."

"Then it's settled!" Eggman jumps out of his Eggmobile and approaches Sonic with a clipboard with the important looking paper on it. "I'll need your signature as proof that you agreed to the terms." He holds out a pen for Sonic to take.

"…fine." Sonic takes the pen and the clipboard and writes his name down.

"Anyone else?"

"I know what Sonic is trying to say. I'm next to him on this one." says Red. The lights ropes disintegrate from around him and he signs his name and a weird sensation overwhelms him. _"Something is definitely wrong here..." _The light ropes come back.

"Sooner or later the truth will come out, I wanna get sent to the desert also!" demands N. She too was allowed to sign her name.

"Sonic, we're behind you all the way!" says Manic. "We'll come out on top bro!" Manic and Sonia sign their names too."

"Me too, gimme that clipboard.." growls Flare and she was also allowed to sign. Mighty stands silent.

"I…might as well…" he sighs. He hesitantly signs.

"Now then." says Eggman as he takes the clipboard away and enters his Eggmobile. "This goes into effect immediately!" Light ropes appeared on Sonic too and a large truck slowly makes its way through the crowd. Sonic and everyone are huddle towards the back of the truck.

"Wait…" says Sonic with an almost uncertain look on his face.

"Don't back out on us bro…" whispers Manic.

"Before I go, I want to see my friends. Tails and Amy. If that ain't too much to ask…"

"Haha! Very well! Tails, Amy, report to the front of the Egg Fortress immediately!" It wasn't too long before the two show up but this time, Tails looks different…He is in tick-top shape but his pale orange fur is now flushed with dark orange and his once innocent blue eyes were replaced with sharp-looking dark blue eyes, his three short bangs are now replaced by one long one and he now wears the same clothing of the Eggman empire.

"…no…"

"_Another elite? No, I doubt it, I'll bet he's still a punching bag!_" thought D.R. to himself

"Long time no see, Sonic! Now I can finally have MY revenge!" growls Tails as he approached the blue hedgehog menacingly.

"Hold it, Tails. No one's going to shed any blood today." commands Eggman sternly.

"Hmph! Why not? Oops, excuse the tone but why not, sir?"

"He is being expelled from the city and wants to says his good-byes to you all. Your revenge will have to wait."

"Oh, well so long asshole!" Amy puts the edge of her new sledgehammer weapon to Sonic's chin so that's he's looking her square in the eye.

"I know we'll meet again Sonic, you BETTER be ready when that time comes!" Amy threatens him as she steps back.

"Fine, if that's how it is then hurry and ship us off Eggman! I'm getting nauseous!" mumbles Sonic, disgusted.

"Yes, yes, good-bye Sonic, may you find the life in the desert to be more relaxing than here in the city."

"Yeah, yeah and another thing, maybe I am a psychopathic or whatever terrorist like you mentioned."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see." Sonic smirks as they are all herded into the back of the truck.

"Don't worry, we're sending another truck of food and supplies along with ya. It'll be inhumane to just send you all off on your own, heh heh…" With that the doors of the back of the truck closes and the truck drives off.

1 hour 30 minutes later, the Egg Fortress main control room.

"Dr. Eggman, sir?" Tails asks as he enters the room with D.R. and Silver. They are all getting ready for something.

"What now?" the evil doctor asks.

"Why are these set all around the fortress?" He shows them a time bomb with only 1 minute left and counting down.

"Oh crap…!" shouts D.R. and Silver in unison.

"Soniiiiiiiiic!" shouts Eggman. The view switches to the outside and everyone is teleported to a far away building. The Egg Fortress rapidly combusts a lot but it doesn't collapse. "That was too close. I should've known he was gonna do this. I guess that solves the mystery on how the sectors were being disrupted… it's not a problem. This fortress was only meant to stand as a temporary base for our operations in this city."

"It is?" asks Amy and Tails.

"Silver will inform you two later, for now, let's continue getting prepared for the war."

Now that their adventures in the city are over, what awaits the rebels in the Korubian desert?


	23. 3 Day Ride Day 1: Sonic’s Promise

Chapter 23: 3 Day Ride (Day 1): Sonic's Promise

The next day.

It is about high to late noon as the truck the rebels are in travels fast across a barren canyon, leaving a dust trail in its tracks. The truck with supplies in it follows nearby. Inside, all the rebels are no longer bound by light ropes that surrounded their bodies. Since the truck is roomy, all the rebels have enough space to move around. Red is doing sit-ups, Shadow is laying down, still haven't awakened from the previous night, N is staring at the floor, collecting her thoughts along with Mighty and Sonia, Manic is constantly tapping on the wall making a rhythm with his drum sticks, Flare looks like she was trying to conjure something in her hands and Sonic sits in an isolated corner with his eyes closed, thinking about the events that happened last night. The room is silent.

"_Man… I couldn't save anyone…I can't save anyone…" _Sonic thinks to himself. _"I gotta face it, everything happening now is all because of me. I screwed everyone over ten years back when they were all relying on me. My cockiness…I…my friends…Tails…Amy…Station Square…EVERYTHING…! My fault!" _His thoughts focus on the little girl he almost hurt. "_I promised myself to never lose my cool again but then…" _He's now focused on the Proto-sonic fading away and the real Metal Sonic appearing. "_He told me what really happened…I couldn't control myself…Eggman, that was a really cheap move! I have to admit that I did take him for granted. Maybe he is a lot smarter than I ever imagined, considering I always thrashed his previous plans, heh heh heh. Still, like he said, it's time to grow up, I am older now and should NOT have let him rile me up that easily. It's time to focus! That's it, I promise to make myself a better hedgehog…if not for me then for the team…" _Sonic opens his eyes with a newfound confidence and stands up. Everyone except Red looks at him curiously. "Guys…" he began slowly. "I screwed up twice and I'm sorry."

"Hmm…" is the reply heard from Red who doesn't seem the least bit interested.

"I promise that I'll improve myself. I'll have to keep a head on my shoulder if we're all gonna make it through this!" First there is silence then everyone one by one began to clap.

"Anyone can say what they want to do, Sonic. Instead, why don't you show us that you mean it?"

THUMP! Suddenly, to everyone's surprise the back door of the truck flings open. Everyone stands up and move to the front of the truck to keep from falling out. To N's surprise it is Merciless, wearing a white desert robe with a matching turban, you'd wonder how she get in without tripping. She swings her way into the truck.

"Damn…it's you…" N gasps. Merciless stands up while N reaches for her weapon.

"Relax, I am not your enemy." Merciless replies. "I saved you along with the pink hedgehog in the Egg Fortress before she was converted."

"Huh…?" She stops fiddling in her clothes.

"I didn't expect you to be one of the drivers. Glad you're OK!" Sonic says to Merciless with a warm smile.

"How come we couldn't get in contact with you sooner?" Manic asks. "You went dark for days."

"I was constantly being watched. It took a long time to extract parts of Dr. Eggman's plans from his computer. The damn thing is encrypted so well; takes me forever to hack through them all and the data itself is purposely encrypted around junk files making the files terribly larger than they should be. 120 Gigabytes my ass. I'm glad I got the bits and pieces I need." She digs into her breast pocket and pulls out a small chip. "I trust you have the data chip I asked for, Sonia?"

"You mean this thing?" Sonia asks pulling out the chip that Sonic gave her before. She hands it to Merciless.

"Indeed, we'll need to find the other 4 if we hope to find out what Eggman is truly planning. Not all of his information can be accessed on a single computer. Nice work grabbing it, Sonic."

"Wait, Sonic, you've been working with her all along?" N asks.

"Yeah, was a long while after I recovered that I ran into her but let's not get side-tracked, I'll tell you about it some other time."

"What do you think Eggman is planning?" asks Red.

"And why would he go though such great lengths to keep it so well hidden?" asks Flare.

"I was forced to become a member of the empire and I'm not brainwashed or converted so for that, I think that information is being kept from me. If we find all the chips spread out throughout the bases then decode them all, we should find out what he's up to. I think there's something bigger going on than him just taking over!" states Merciless.

"Silver mentioned how there are other branches of the empire...-" Red begins but abruptly stops. "His control isn't as absolute as he wants us to believe!"

"Yes, that makes sense." said N.

"So let me get this straight." Sonic says, putting his hand to his chin, thinking. "You mean to tell me that Eggman's plan to take over the world like a first step or something? Weird… I always thought he'd be happy just ruling the world by himself. I can't imagine what else he'd want besides ruling."

"In the Egg Fortress, Eggman has a huge ball of energy stored in the blast room…- AH!" N stops herself in amazement as she recalls what was said to her before. "He plans on using that energy to put in his mind and make it into and ultimate weapon."

"Huh... even with his huge ass bald head, that brain of his can't hold even the slightest of that power."

"Maybe transferring it to a weapon perhaps?" Mighty suggests. "Back on Isolated Island, I remember him using the chaos rings to combine himself and Metal Sonic to transform into a large mechanical hedgehog monster; it could be something similar."

"No use sitting around playing guessing games all day." said Sonia. "Any guess is just as good as any."

"I agree." states Merciless. "The only thing we can do is collect those data chips. There is one in a base in Korubia. It should be on the main network computer; I doubt his army will let you just waltz in. It has just as much security as the Egg Fortress!"

"Heh heh." Flare chuckles. "Does it have as smart of security as the Egg Fortress?"

"What do you mean?"

"When we ran into the Egg Fortress, we weren't attacked immediately." said Red. "They did, however, attack us when we decided to check out their machinery... or was it when the word 'please' was uttered. Intriguing isn't it?"

"Indeed but it was probably because they sent a secret report and one of the elites received it. However, 'please' is a glitch in some of the Egg Fotress' worker bots system that Eggman was too lazy to fix since he figured he'll never have to say that to any of his robots."

"What are elites?" asks Mighty.

"It isn't surprising that no one knows. Elites are the Eggman Empire's devils in plain sight!"

"What?" asks Red.

"D.R.-" Red interrupts her.

"Dark Red, that's his birth-given name whether he likes it or not. Address him by that."

"Alright and you are?"

"I'm Red, his older brother."

"I never knew he had a brother, I'm sorry."

"No harm done."

"As I was saying, Dark Red and Silver used to be the only elites in the Eggman Empire but now he may have…" She indicates Sonic. "…turned his friends Amy and Tails into elites too. Elites are the most powerful members of the Eggman Empire. They are the highest ranking commanders in power. There are four levels of power commanders: Sergeants; level 1's, Supers; level 2's, Hypers; level 3's, and Elite; level 4's. Sergeants are people like me, who haven't undergone the conversion process and still have their complete memory but we have the ability to command any robot in the empire as long as it has some sort of contribution to the empire itself. Luckily for us, the robots are too stupid so you can easily lie to them and tell them that it benefits the empire.

"So is it possible that you can lie to the robots and put them under our command?"

"Most likely I can, but I'll have to try it remotely. The doctor has a close eye on sergeants more than anyone else. The only reason he hasn't converted them was because he needs their memory for certain required skills that can't be done in a converted form."

"Wow." said Sonic as he let out a descending whistle. "That's pretty deep. Whaddaya think he kept you normal for?"

"I was once in the military, a weapons operative and expert. I don't work for them anymore since… well… it's obivous… In short, I don't know. Lemme finish.

"_Wonder if she's hiding something." _N thought to herself.

"Super commanders, or Supers as they're called, have stronger than normal chaos energy in their bodies and are stronger than your average anthrop. They have more authority than us sergeants so any commands we give to robots are automatically overridden by them. Supers don't have much of their original memory except for an important few people that they might have known but nonetheless they are still dangerous. Their minds are altered to do everything as Eggman tells them to do without question. Hypers are basically the same thing as supers but their strength are traded for memory so they are a lot stronger than supers and hold higher authority over robots. I think the doctor chose certain anthrops with good strength and abilities for that form. Finally, the worst of them all: the Elites. These are the most powerful of the Eggman Empire. Their chaos energy is far beyond a hyper's and most of their memory along with their personalities, also they can get very aggressive and competitive even with each other. Thier vicious tendencies can sometimes borderline self-destructive but unfortunately, I've yet to see one fall on their own. Sometimes they do show signs of remembering who they are though but they have the strongest sense of loyalty to the empire and won't let anything get in their way if it makes any threats to the empire and better yet, Dr. Eggman himself. There are a quite a few flaws I did notice with the elites though: every week they have to recharge in the converter otherwise they'll weaken over time. It doesn't take effect if they're sleeping, if anything it delays the process. Also, once in a blue, they tend to do things on their own when it comes to an assignment, it's uncommon but it does happen."

"You mean like when Silver broke his radio after we destroyed the power plant?" asks Flare.

"Indeed, he got a real earful when he returned and we had to start wearing wrist communicators."

"If this involves chaos energy then that means there aren't any humans that are commanders are there?"

"Yes but a very few, if you ask me, it's more of a threat to him to have anthrops on his side than humans. Us anthrops have to ability to put him and his machines out in a second. He fears our power so he's created devices to lessen the powers of the chaos energy of anthrops in certain areas… unfortunately I don't know where they are otherwise I'd have made plans to smash them long ago. He also has a device that deflects any projectiles near him and he keeps it on him at all times. Bullets are useless; even sniper shots fail."

"You're right, I feel like more refreshed than I did in the city."

"All of these precautions Eggman takes are unnecessary since-"

Boom! Boom! Two explosions shake the vehicle and Merciless' gets contacted via wrist comm.; it is D.R..

"I hope your weapons skills are as good as your driving 'cause I'm sending assault units to take out those rebels.

"What? WHY?"

"What did I tell you about getting loud at me? Those bastards smashed up some of my dinosaur robots, they were cool ya know! It bothered me to find my Ptero-bot messed up so I'm making a new one. They're lucky the chaos emerald that was in it is still intact; those things can stand an ass-whooping can't they? Anyway, say good-bye for the rebels for me." Merciless slams her wrist comm. shut.

"Ain't this a bitch!?"

"Uh, miss Merciless, an empire battleship prototype is attacking us!" shouts someone from Merciless' radio. She grasps it tightly and responds.

"Slow your truck, it's not after you!"

"What will you do?"

"I'm going to find a way to take that thing out! I'm not dying just yet!" she replies while flinging the truck doors open.

"But-"

"Just do as I say!" she quickly drops the radio and climbs to the top of the truck. More explosion are heard.

"That's really cheap of my brother." said Red. "Definitely not his style."

"I'm going to help her! I have to keep my promise!" cried Sonic and he climbs to the top of the truck. "Whoa! It's hot!"

"I guess it's my fault I didn't warn you." Off in the distance is a ship about ¼ the size of the Egg Carrier. It has mortar cannons mounted on the sides of the ships so it can attack from long range. "An Egg Storm proto-type… we're lucky." The battleship fires another large mortar in front of them this time it seems very sure to hit them but Sonic intercepts with his attack.

"SONIC WIND!" shouts the blue hedgehog as he releases his attack on the oncoming shell and sends it safely away from the truck. "Now how do we scrap that thing? I can't keep this up all day, especially in this toasty weather!" Merciless thinks for a moment, the battleship fires its large mortars again but in a single file pattern. Sonic snaps his fingers once he gets an idea and decides to use his homing attack on the missiles, sending them towards the ground, until he reaches the battle ship. Next, all that is seen is a blue blur zoom all around the ship until all of its cannons are destroyed.

"SONIC! IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, THAT THING CAN RELEASE A BURST OF ELECTRICITY!" ZZZT! Sonic obviously can't hear her from that distance and the battleship glows with blue energy until it's completely engulfed in an electric sphere which enlarges very fast until it bursts. THUMP! Sonic gets launched high in the air and lands hard on top of the truck with electricity surging all around him. "Judging by the amount of power it used, I doubt it can do it again."

"Well, that's my cue to kick its ass then." Movement is seen under the battleship and little black figures approach the trucks fast until they are identified as robotic raptors as seen by Flare before. "Woo-hoo, dinosaur toys, about time the good doctor got a bit more creative; the animal/insect motif was old."

"Actually, Sonic, those unit were created by D.R.. Silver runs a unit based on AI vehicles such as motorcycles."

"Ah, so even the henchmen have more creativity than him, heh heh heh!" A robot raptor digs its claws in the truck and begins tearing at its sides, another leaps directly on top of the truck and begins slashing at Merciless who swiftly dodges its attacks. Sonic gets ready to jump in.

"I know you're used to saving girls but don't worry about me, I'll handle the ones on top! The ones on the sides are all yours!" Doing as told, Sonic jumps, spins, and repeatedly thrusts himself against both of the robots in a timely manner; using his homing attack until both of them explode. Merciless kicks the head off of one of the robots and throws the decapitated body into the other robot, pushing it off the truck and both explode along the sand.

"Niiiice, Merciless. I didn't know you can brawl too!"

"I didn't just sit around on my ass under Eggman, I studied some of his robots fighting patterns. Here come more so don't get comfortable." Another robot begins tearing at the truck but Sonic disposes that one. Another one does a very high leap over the truck and makes a clean slash at Sonic and seemingly sliced his head off. Merciless gasps but only to find out Sonic's head is in his cloak.

"That was a lil too close for comfort, heheheh! I was too fast for…uh…-" Merciless looks at him seriously then Sonic remembers his promise. "I'll be more careful." The robot then leaps on the truck and slashes at Sonic who slowly backs away. Right when Sonic reaches the edge, the robot leaps at him with both claws and Sonic's figured blurs then turn back to normal which meant he used his speed to dodge the robot. The robot lands on the ground upside down and explodes. Suddenly a lot more robots began to jump on the truck but this time all of their attention is focused on Sonic. They managed to divide Sonic and Merciless so they can't get near one another. The group forces Sonic to the back edge of the truck. "Well fellas, no need to thank me all at once now is there?"

"Sonic, how come your allies aren't helping?" Merciless grabs on by the tail and hurls it off the truck.

"Don't worry, I don't need them yet, bye-bye." Sonic jumps off the truck and runs away in the opposite direction of the truck, the robots all run after him, leaving Merciless alone.

"…" She sweatdrops.

"You guys think you're pretty fast huh? Well honestly, I'm just moving in slow motion!" Sonic screeches to a halt. The robots immediately surround him and began circling him as a group of raptors would probably do to their prey. "_Perfect. They fell right for my trap." _Sonic jumps high into the air and begins to do a spin kick and rapidly builds up speed. "Grrah! Here WE GOOOOOO! SONIC TORNADO!" A blue swirl emerges from the ground behind all of the robots then a giant blue tornado began to thrust all the robots into the air and helplessly spins them around.

Back at the truck, Merciless see a lot of raptors far off in the distance heading towards Sonic's direction.

"_If D.R. sent this strike to kill the rebels then why are all their attacks focused on Sonic…? Something is very odd about this because I doubt they're doing this to avoid any casualties coming my way; they don't give a damn about me or the other guys..."_

Back with Sonic, all the robots in the tornado had already exploded and Sonic lands and dusts himself off.

"Well, that takes care of that!" said Sonic with glee. In an instant hordes of robot are in front of Sonic and they all jump him at once, forcing the blue hedgehog to the ground, helpless as the robots slash him and stomp him. "AH! OOF! AAH…Damn, now I see… why people curse a lot… stuff like this hurts bad…and… can really piss a HEDGEHOG OFF! GRRR!" Sonic curls himself into a ball and gathers energy in his body for a brief moment before angrily shouting… "CHAOS SPHERE!" Sonic releases a white light which envelops all the robots in the area but as soon as the explosion reaches its expansion limit a blue blur zooms out of it and catches up with the truck. Sonic lands on the truck and Merciless sees Sonic slashed up and bruised. He glares at the battleship. "_Alright remember, don't lose my cool. I'm gonna control my anger and direct it straight to that battleship."_

"I think that battleship was mostly acting as a transport carrier for those robot raptors. It's probably out of any method of attacking us so we can strike now! Our problem is that we don't have any long-range weapons that can take down that ship."

"Heh, I do."

"You do?"

"Yup!" Sonic get into a karate stance. "I trained myself to the fullest for these ten whole years because I knew about the hardships I was gonna face. And now, I'm ready! HAAA!"

Sonic shouts extremely loud into the air until a red aura surrounds him just like Amy did in chapter 18 less transparent. Merciless watches in awe. "You might wanna stand in the front of the truck, you might fall off the truck once I'm done." Merciless immediately moves. Sonic throws off his cloak to reveal he only has a pair of blue jeans on and cups his hands and pulls his arms far back as an orb of white energy slowly forms into them, after a brief moment the energy turns blue. Sonic looks at the energy and doesn't seem satisfied with it so he rapidly pours more energy into his hand until the orb completely engulfs both of his hands. He looks seriously at the battle ship. "Alright Eggman, here's to many more losses for you even in this dark future! HEDGEHOG BEAM…!" Sonic thrusts his hands forward and releases a large blue beam toward the battleship. From the side view it doesn't look like the beam is going to reach its target even at its speed but Sonic isn't done with his attack, he crosses his arms over his chest until they began to glow with extra energy then he pushes against the beam as hard as he can. "…MAXIMUM FORCE!" With a mighty roar, a vertical shockwave emits where Sonic pushes at causing the beam to propel itself and enlarge by 5 times as much, flies across the desert sand and envelops its target completely until a huge whiteout discharges from the ship. When everything clears, Sonic strikes a pose (SA2 round complete pose) even though he is sweating like crazy and lost his aura. "And with that, I'll play with you some other time!" Merciless approaches Sonic.

"Wow, that was… quite….interesting Sonic…At least that's out of the way. I'm surprised that you have so much energy in you. I think you might even be stronger than any member on the Eggman empire… However, not to rain on your parade but that was a bit overkill as that was only a prototype..."

"I bet I can beat them with my eyes clo-um, we can't really count on that. Let's get back inside, this sun's a real killer." After they made their way in the truck, Sonic falls down weakly.

"Rest Sonic, you deserve it." Red says. Sonic collapses face-first.

"Wondering why we didn't help?" Flare asks. Merciless gives her a look of inquiry. "Well, we were but-" Red interrupts her.

"I made them all stay here."

"Why?" Merciless inquired sharply. "We-he could've died."

"You were helping him weren't you."

"Yes but-"

"But?"

"I…I don't have those kind of power you guys have. I can hold my own but I'm not as strong."

"I see but that isn't important." Red stood up and walked to the back of the truck. "If Sonic's promise was as serious as he meant it then he'll want to have taken on whatever it was alone."

"Argh, I get the gist of it but I still don't understand…"

"At least your driver managed to keep calm during all this."

"…About that."

"What's wrong…?" asks Flare.

"There is no driver, I had the truck on cruise control this whole time."

"WHAT?" shouts everyone at the same time.

"Well that explains everything!" chuckles N. Merciless nods and leaves. "I'm glad we didn't ride off a cliff."

Night time.

The truck the rebels are in has slowed to a stop. The supplies truck has caught up with them and also stopped. Merciless steps out and lets the rebels out. In time, a camp is set up.

"God, it's freezing out here." N complains.

"This is just the warmest." replied Merciless as she sat a box down in front of them. "You'll all need to put this over the clothing you're wearing. The clothing I'm giving you is suitable to protect against the sun's rays and heat and gives pretty good protection against the night's cold. It shouldn't take me too long to make the food."

"Thanks a lot Merciless." said Sonic.

"Mhm."

Meanwhile in an unknown location. D.R. enters a control room.

"Well sir, it was just like you said. Sonic took down that battle ship and survived my onslaught of robots." he says, annoyed. Eggman laughs happily at the news. "Sir?"

"It's nothing Dark Red, good job, you are dismissed for now." Eggman replies very seriously. D.R. leaves the rooms with a confused look on his face. "Just like good old times, eh Sonic?"


	24. 3 Day Ride Day 2: Conflict

Chapter 24: 3 Day Ride (Day 2): Conflict

It is high-noon and the truck is back on track with the supply truck following closely behind. The rebels are riding mostly quietly but an occasional conversation starts amongst them. Merciless in the meanwhile is shouting at Dark Red over her truck radio from an ongoing conversation.

"…and what the hell were you thinking sending those robots to attack US!? I COULD'VE BEEN KILLED!" she shouts. D.R. is laughing.

"Normally I'd get on your case about getting loud with me but it's funny how you said 'killed' with the accent and all! Hahaha!" replies the red hedgehog.

"What the hell do you want anyway?"

"The good doctor told me to inform you of a new threat in Korubia. One of our most trusted armies there have turned into so-called rebels themselves…or so we're told ftronm our insider's report. Nothing more than willfully blind dumbasses who don't see the light of Dr. Eggman's visions if you ask me."

"What makes them a threat and why should I care?"

"You're stupid and you…are stupid… You don't get it?"

"Well obviously not!"

"The answer is obvious! If both rebels meet it can mean more inconveniences for the Eggman Empire. Duh, dumb ass!"

"Grr. So what do you-well…Eggman want me to do about it?"

"Absolutely nothing, I was only told to inform your dumb ass. We'll be weeding them out ourselves."

"Fine-bye!"

"You'll get an order later though."

"Tch, an order for what?"

"The next part of the preparation, duh! What an idiot..."

"Fine, understood."

"Now hurry up and get back so I can give you some good ol' teaba-!" D.R. gets clicked off.

"What a horny dumb ass…" Merciless mumbles with disgust.

"So, there are more rebels, huh?" asks Sonic's voice from atop of the truck's cab.

"You were listening…? Indeed there are more but it doesn't matter if they're going to be wiped out soon. It's happened in the past, ya know."

"Don't be such a downer! Let's hope we can get them on our side! The very thing Eggman fears." chuckles Sonic with high enthusiasm.

"Somehow I doubt it's going to be easy, Sonic. Desert people are stereotypically tougher than most. What if their views and methods are different from ours?"

"Well then." Sonic folds both of his arm behind his head. "We'll just have to cross the bridge when we get there won't we? Hehehe, oh, by the way, these desert clothes are awesome, I almost feel no heat from the sun!"

"Speaking of bridges, we're coming to a bridge checkpoint ahead, get inside before anyone sees you!" Sonic zips into the truck and its doors close behind him. The bridge isn't very large but it leads across a large canyon and is very heavily guarded with hummers and vehicles that are of military use. In front of the bridge stands a squadron of armed camel soldiers dressed in desert camouflage military uniforms with an Eggman insignia on the back. Merciless slows the truck to a stop and the soldiers in the area point their weapons at the truck. The weapons range from handguns to assault weapons and even one person with a rocket launcher. "_What the hell is going on, normally there isn't a checkpoint here…" _A young higher ranked official approaches the truck as Merciless steps out of it. "Is there a reason I can't pass?"

"I don't know, I was hoping maybe you can tell me." said the official as he examines the truck suspiciously.

"And THAT means?"

"Show me some ID first."

"Dr. Eggman didn't tell you that I was coming with the rebels from the city? We've only spent one day driving here; should've been more than enough time to get that info."

"This squadron wasn't informed of anything but the base might have been…hmm this is very suspicious. I'm still going to ask to see some identification first."

"Fine, here." Merciless takes her ID out from her breast pocket and shows the official.

"So you're the one called Merciless. I've only heard of you, sorry but we don't get to see much rookies out here." said the official as he raises one hand then flags it down giving the soldier their cue to withdraw their weapons and return to their activities.

"Rookie, huh? Thanks for the nickname, I feel we're closer already."

"I'm still going to have to confirm your arrival, please come with me." Merciless follows him to a jeep with a radio inside of it. Nearby on the ground where they spoke lies a small puddle of water, it swiftly slides towards the truck while avoiding detection from soldiers and enters through the back. Inside, the puddle reforms to Red.

"Now THAT is awesome!" said Manic.

"So what did you hear?" asks Flare anxiously.

"It was nothing much." Red mumbles. "They seem suspicious of Merciless which makes me think that something happened recently."

"It may have something to do with the rebels Sonic mentioned." says Sonia.

"Right. I'll gather some more information now. Let's just hope my element power can keep stable in the heat." says Red and with that he turns into water and slides out the truck again.

"I don't get it, the frequency is correct! Come in base, this is ground unit x-ray do you read me!?" shouts the official over the radio. "C'mon, I think something is wrong with this thing."

"Give it here, I'll contact Eggman instead." Merciless states then forcefully takes the radio and switch frequencies. "Dr. Eggman, sir, are you there?"

"Bah! What's so important that you disturb me from my important work?"

"There's a checkpoint at Genesis Canyon that was never here before and they-."

"The squadron won't let you pass, huh? Tell them I said good work."

"'Good work'!?" the official snatches the radio.

"Learn your place, rookie!" he tells Merciless. "Dr. Eggman, sir! This is lieutenant Tor reporting, sir!"

"Ah, Tor, good to hear from you. Good work in stopping Merciless, I was testing loyalty you know, I knew your squad couldn't be part of these so-called rebellious acts. All units are placed at crossing points as planned, correct?"

"Yes, sir! We still haven't seen any signs of bandits!"

"Ah, well from previous records they only appear at night anyway but don't remove your units yet, they may try to sneakily move around in the daytime!"

"What should I do with the rookie, sir?"

"Let her pass, it's alright. She's heading for Korubia, inform General Mulaza (pronounced Mew-lay-za) of their passing through here."

"That was the actual problem I contacted you for… ("_You mean **I **contacted him for you, you self-centered asshole!" _thought Merciless.) I can't get into contact with the base, it seems the frequency isn't working.

"Heheheh. Very well, I'll look into matters later on when I'm done, just keep an eye out for those bandits, they can probably strike hard at any moment! I'll send an agent to clear things up soon."

"Will do, sir." With that he put the radio away. "Sorry for the inconvenience, Merciless, we'll let you be on your way."

"What's this about bandits?"

"I'm not entirely sure myself, they appeared about last week and started stealing from the Eggman Empire's supply of goods and attempted to assassinate general Mulaza many times. We have reason to believe it's the work of an insider."

"I see, I better head off to Korubia now. Farewell." Merciless returns to the truck and Red, as a puddle, barely manages to get in in time. Inside, Red returned to normal and sits against the wall.

"Well, my elemental power is low so I won't be liquefying myself anymore today." he mumbles.

"What's up this time?" asked N.

"Well, there seems to be bandits causing problems in these parts. They steal from the empire but other than that all I heard was crap."

"I see…"

With Eggman.

Eggman is in a room with 6 of the chaos emeralds laid before him on a table. D.R. walks in holding the master emerald.

"Ah, there you are, Dark Red! Let's get this show on the road!" shouts Eggman with glee.

"For some reason the number of emeralds you have looks off, sir…" D.R. says with great concern.

"Nonsense, I'm sure the master emerald would substitute it anyways."

"You're the boss, what should I do?"

"I want you to go into your super transformation."

"Ok. Um, let see..." D.R. lifts his hand into the air and the six emeralds began to encircle while glowing brightly.

"Yes, yes…good!" Suddenly the emeralds stop glowing and drop to the ground. "What!? What happened just now!?"

"Um, not enough emeralds for the transformation, now that I remember, there are seven chaos emeralds but that's all I know."

"Ah, very well, you may rest now." D.R. leaves. "Hmm, I forgot that there are seven chaos emeralds…seems my memory has failed me a bit after all of these years, aging is pain. Well, that doesn't matter." Eggman enters another room with the red fox in a tube and began typing something on a nearby panel. "Hmm…if only Flare hadn't blown up that facility in the arctic. I think I may be doing something wrong. It took those scientist only a few months to create Flare but I've been working on this for almost ten years and it's still incomplete even with the same methods used." Eggman brushes his mustache a bit then looks at his gloves to see strands of gray hairs. "Getting gray around the beard…oh well. I can't bother myself with this project just yet." Just as Eggman is getting ready to turn his back to leave the fox in the tube began to glow red and suddenly the tube is engulfed in red electricity. Eggman steps back filled with uncertainty then suddenly a red glowing aura surrounds him and lifts him high. "Wh-WHAT!? S-SILVER! DARK RED! IN HERE! QU-QUICK!" He now hears a voice in his head.

"_Eggman…creator…" _A soft deep voice said wearily.

"What…?" D.R. and Silver burst into the room.

"Holy Hell!" shouts D.R.

"Wow, didn't this happen before at some point?" Silver ask.

"Never mind that, that thing has Eggman!"

"Let's destroy it then!"

"No problem! Grrr!" D.R. rushes to the machine and jumps at the tube but ZZZT! a bolt of red electricity leaps out from the machine, shocks him and an explosion sends him reeling backwards but he manages to stay on his feet. "Urk, lucky strike! Sonic Blade!" D.R. unleashes his attack towards the tube but it stops nearby. "Ok…what the hell?" The attack glows until it is a pure red version of the attack then it reflects back at D.R. at such a phenomenal speed that he didn't have anytime to react. BOOM! It explodes on him but it was only enough to send him sliding backwards.

"_No…harm…" _said the voice in Eggman's head.

"Ok, Silver, you give it try!"

"OK!" shouts Silver as he moves his hands in a motion as if he is balling a snowball, a gray orb begins to form and when it reach its desired size Silver holds it aloft. "WIND BOMB!" He lobs the orb at the tube but just like D.R.'s attack, it turns red and launches fast at Silver with an explosion. BOOM! "Ugh! Ok, this may take some time…GRR!"

"_No…harm…" _the voice says again.

Back with the rebels.

Merciless is back in the truck and starts the engine.

"…while you are there though, don't forget to enjoy Korubia's beauties as well as the Fight Domes. It's not all burn and freeze there, ya know." continues Tor from whatever conversation him and Merciless were having.

"I'll probably keep that in mind." Merciless responds, slightly annoyed. With that, she drives across the now clear bridge.

"Nothing important." replies Red in the truck when inquired about the conversations that went on.

"I guess we'll try to find out as much as we can when we get there." said Mighty. Not even a minute after crossing the bridge Merciless spots a lone stealth bomber in the sky. Under it, there is a large black object attached.

"_That's odd, I thought normally they're sent in groups to cover for an area the a jet might miss during an attack. What's it doing in this wasteland anyway?"_ She thinks. At the checkpoint everyone spots the plane approaching.

"Damn it! A rogue bomber again!" a soldier shouts to Tor. Tor takes out binoculars for a better look.

"Son of a bitch, it looks like it's carrying a radius bomb! Get the rocket launchers, men! HURRY!"

"YES, SIR!" Everyone scrambles to their stations for the rocket launchers and wait.

"Switch to heat seeking shells and FIRE AT WILL! YOU!" Tor points to a random operative.

"Yes sir!?" she replies very quickly.

"Contact the base on the double! If you can't get through then contact Dr. Eggman!"

"Yes sir!" she darts off. The soldiers fire at the bomber immediately but the plane releases a bright object which directs all the rockets in that direction. Now every rocket only heads in that direction. The plane begins to encircle the area.

"That's no rogue bomber, that's the cobra prototype! What the hell is it doing here!?"

"Sir, none of our attacks are working!" shouts a soldier.

"I CAN SEE THAT! The Cobra is supposed to release a super hot metal that releases a lot of heat, so much that it drags every heat-seeker missile in that direction!" The operative runs to Tor.

"Leuitenant Tor, neither are responding, what should we do!?" she shouts. Tor thinks for a moment then sighs.

"I'm afraid there isn't a damn thing we can do but wait for death. "

"But there has to be something-"

"Nope, nothing at all. Fleeing is useless since that bomb will take out a half of a mile in a fraction of a second. I should've taken my uncle's advice when he told me Eggman was onto us." The plane flies in the distance and does a U-turn. Tor bites his lip. "I was so proud of myself, thinking we were so close in bringing him down. You all followed me faithfully and I failed you all."

"But-"

"No buts, no regrets, Eggman will be beaten someday; it's unfortunate that we aren't the ones who're gonna do it. Today, we die for KORUBIA!" Tor shouts out loud and raises his fist in the air. All the soldiers drop their weapons and do the same.

"FOR KORUBIA!" they all shout proudly. As soon as the plane reaches over the checkpoint, the bomb gets released…BOOM! Just as Tor predicted, after a huge red flash the explosion is fast enough to wipe out the half a mile in a large red explosion which leaves a huge black smoke mushroom cloud. The checkpoint along with the bridge that lead across the canyon is instantaneously annihilated. Merciless sees the explosion from the trucks side mirror and a dusty shockwave from it quickly catching up.

"OH CRAP!" she cries and braces for impact as she hurriedly rolls up her window and SWOOOOSH! The shockwave of dust catches up and lifts the truck up slightly while shaking it. The truck lands safely and so does the supply truck. Merciless activates her windshield wipers to clear out the sand from them. Overhead, the stealth bomber responsible flies faster ahead of the trucks and disappears in the distance, Merciless watches suspiciously.

With Eggman.

Silver and D.R. are left panting really hard.

"What the HELL! Every attack we did just shot back at us!" D.R. complains.

"Well, Egg-maker sir, you created the thing! What's the weakness!?" ask Silver.

_No…harm…" _says the voice. Eggman sits quietly in deep in thought.

"D.R., let's try a hedgehog beam at the same time!" D.R. nods and both cup their hands until a ball of white light forms.

"HEDGEHOG BEAM!" they both shout as they thrust their hands forwards and unleashed a white beam on the tube, the impact shakes the electricity around it.

"Did it work?" D.R. asked. Suddenly a volt of electricity extends out to the two hedgehogs and shocks them both while lifting them into the air.

"AAAH!" they both scream in agony.

_No…harm…no harm…please…" _the voice says.

"Now I'm MAAAAAAD!" D.R. shouts at the top of his lungs until he gets surrounded by a red aura. He breaks out the electrical grasp and runs at the machine. "Now you're done for!"

"Dark Red, WAIT!" cries Eggman. D.R. face-faults hard and loses his aura. "I don't think it wants to do any harm or us to do any harm to it."

"How do you know, sir? It's clearly lifting you up! Um…somehow…"

"He's communicating with me mentally." Silver and D.R. face-faults simultaneously.

"Why didn't you tell us before Dr. Lateman?" Silver asks.

"I didn't understand what it meant by 'No harm' at first, I thought it was taunting me about you two but now I understand, you two may go now." Eggman replies.

"Hmph! He knew I was gonna finish him off." D.R. says to Silver as they head to the door.

"Nah, you got owned worst than I did." Silver replies with a grin as the doors shut behind them. Eggman is then lowered to the ground and the red glow disappears and electricity from around the tube dispels instantly.

"_Thank you…" _the voice says with a hint of relief.

"I see you've already developed telepathy, electricity and the ability to convert element energy and chaos energy. I didn't think you would develop a language or even a mind to speak with, I'm impressed! Yet you are still incomplete, you'll have almsot limitless potential once I'm through with you. I need to capture the remaining elements of wind, water, ice, fire, and earth!"

"_Element capture…"_

"Yes I-"

"_No…don't explain…I can read your mind…your thoughts…I understand everything just by looking…I know your goals, your plans, your intentions... your ambitions"_

"_Hmm, I'm really starting to have second thoughts." _Eggman thought to himself.

"_You are my creator, I won't turn my back on you. Once I am perfected I will do your bidding with no questions asked."_

"Hmm, alright, but you're still developing. I don't want you to get too far ahead of yourself, fox."

"_Then I won't allow myself to…"_

"I have things to attend to now, hopefully I can find more elements for you using the Fight Stadiums I had built in the desert. Rest easy, Crimson." Eggman leaves out.

With the rebels, now a bit after midnight.

Merciless yawns and looks at her watch.

"It's about that time." She mumbles. She looks at the moon in the sky and decides it might be too cold to camp out so she'd let the rebels sleep inside the truck. She picks up the truck radio. "Nack, I guess we can call it a drive for the day."

"Sure." replies a voice on the other end. "My ass is numb and I'm getting sick of hearing the humming sounds anyway."

"What humming sounds?"

"I've heard them all night so far. I think something is wrong with this truck!" Suddenly, Merciless began hearing the humming too.

"Wait, I think I hear them too!" Merciless recognized those hums, they aren't from the truck; they are from hovering vehicles and now it seems like the sounds are multiplying and coming near. Uncertain on what to do, Merciless floors the truck.

"What the hell are you doing!?"

"Floor it, Nack!" Merciless looks quickly at the mirrors on her side of the truck but can't see anything through the pitch-black darkness of the night, the moonlight barely helping. The humming sounds are closer now and the moonlight finally allowed Merciless to see the figures dress in white desert robes with veils around their mouths, all riding on hover bikes similar to the one D.R. used. The closest on raised his scimitar in the air and jumps on Merciless' door and clink! breaks the window. Merciless swerves the truck back and forth to ward off her attacker. No effect. The attacker reaches in the window with his scimitar and tries to stab at Merciless' head. He then unlocks the door. Big mistake. Merciless kicks the door as hard as she can and sends it flying open sending the assailant off the truck and tumbling into the bare ground. Through all of this, Flare wakes up.

"Hm?" she wonders.

"Are you OK? Merciless, come in!" shouts the voice on the other end of the radio.

Merciless sets the truck on auto-pilot and quickly climbs to the top.

"Bandits, they must be trying to free them." she says aloud. "Even though I don't really care, I can't let that happen just yet!" She draws a Uzi 9mm as the bandits raise their bikes to the top of the truck. They all attempt to fly by her and slash with their scimitars but Merciless flips over them and fires accurate burst shots on them knocking them off their vehicles. On the last one, however, she drop kicks him off and he lands on top of the truck and Merciless leaps on top of him and grabs him by the collar and beats him in the face with her weapon. "What the hell do you people want!?" The bandit takes his veil off and smiles. Merciless identified him as a common desert fox seen in these parts though she had to strain her eyes a bit in the darkness.

"Ha, why the hell would I tell you anything!?" THWACK! Gun to his face again but all he does is laugh. "You can kill me, it won't change a damn thing. Down with the Eggman Empire!"

"Oh really, well tell you the truth I don't give a rats ass about the empire myself. I just can't let you take these rebels away just yet! You assholes will spoil my plans!"

"Oh really? Well, I'm just a grunt trying to loot the empire for my benefit, you might want try to find our leader which I won't allow!" WHACK! He head-butts her making Merciless hold her head in agony then he takes out a grenade and sets it next to her. "DOWN WITH THE EGGMAN EMPIRE!" and with that he leaps off the truck. Merciless sees this and simply kicks the grenade off the truck before it explodes. Flare, who had just arrived, runs to Merciless.

"Hey, are you OK?" she inquires.

"It's nothing, go back in the truck…"

"You're hurt though."

"No…just a headache from a surprise attack, I'll live." Merciless climbs back into the driver's seat and Flare into the back of the truck. Merciless picks up the radio. "I'm fine, let's stop and rest here." The trucks pull to a stop.


	25. 3 Day Ride Day 3: Shadow's Awakening

Chapter 25: 3 Day Ride (Day 3): Shadow's Awakening

10:30AM, with Eggman.

"Oh Silver! It's time to wake up!" shouts Eggman as he comes in Silver's quarters.

"Mmm, but I don't want to go to school…mmm" Silver mumbled as he pulls the blanket over his head. Eggman stared, annoyed.

"Silver, you imbecile, it's time to put the transporters to the test! Merciless will arrive at point E in about 40 minutes."

"What's for breakfeast?" Eggman grits his teeth.

"It's called breakFAST! No eating until we see how these things work."

"Aww, but I'm hungry sir, an elite can't do well on an empty stomach."

"Bah! Fine, I'll have the chef-bot make pancakes or something." SWISH! Silver was out of bed and through the door before Eggman could finish his sentence. "Hmph, lucky for you my research indicates you need enough food to keep your strength level high." Once Eggman reached the dining area, Tails, D.R. and Amy scrambled in.

"Silver, you gluttonous cow!" shouts D.R. as he saw how fast Silver had reached the chair.

"Relax, Dark Red, everyone is getting something to eat before we begin our plans for today." A few minutes later a feast is set with everyone eating. Amy looked around the table and smile sheepishly.

"_This could be fun!" _she thinks. Silver is happily munching on pancakes until one of them levitates into the air and onto D.R.'s plate; he was unaware because he is drinking orange juice.

"HEY YOU RED GREEDY BASTARD! THAT WAS MIIIINE!" Silver shouts at the top of his lungs. D.R. look at Silver dumbfounded.

"What?" he asked confused.

"YOU TOOK MY PANCAKE YOU FAT SACK OF CRAP!"

"I didn't take anything! OOF!" Tails is eating rice balls when unaware, one of them lifts up and launches at D.R., hitting him square in the mouth. Silver bursts out laughing. D.R. glares at Tails. "YOOUU!" D.R. picks up a banana and chucks it at the orange fox, knocking him in the head.

"Grr!" Tails growled. "What the hell was that for!?" Suddenly he is splashed with Silver's apple juice which Silver didn't even get a chance to drink yet. "HEY!" Tails picks up an apple and fastballs Silver with it, busting the apple and knocking him straight out the chair, cutting off his laughter.

"OK, that does it!" shouts Silver as he get up. "IT'S GO TIME!" He lunges at Tails and D.R. jumps in, all of them creating a fight cloud. Amy giggles and continues nonchalantly eating her food. Eggman walks in and the fight cloud immediately stops with everyone on the floor.

"HE STARTED IT!" shouts all the boys pointing at one another. Eggman sighs, annoyed.

"Let's just go Silver, the rest of you get cleaned up and head to your quarters to await further instruction. Everyone leaves quickly while Silver follows Eggman. They go the way to a room in the hangar part with a computer. The hangar is neatly align with all sorts of battleships, some bigger than others, some more burly than others, some with cooler shapes than most. "All right Silver, I need you to send your vehicle units to assault Merciless' truck! The attack doesn't have to be successful but I need to know if these transporters are capable of handling large and mass numbers of metallic objects with fuel without combusting." Silver scratches the back of his quills.

"Not a problem but… I can't mass call them from up here. The Death Egg doesn't have the mainframe that I can use to mass summon them." said Silver then he realized that he is in the Egg Fortress control room. "What the hell?"

"These transporters can easily break down any matter no matter how dense it is and it works quite swiftly wouldn't you say?" said Eggman over Silver's wrist comm. "The best part is there is no sound from it so no one can tell exactly where it comes from."

"Oh ok."

"The rebels are near point E, I have programmed the computer to locate all of the transporters I've created and soon will have planted throughout the stations and country. I'd sell to other countries but too much paperwork, bah! It wouldn't matter since eventually they will all come under my control!" Silver begins typing on the computer.

"Yeah, I'm sending them all to point E now! They better be ready to defend themselves."

"Go as rough as you want on them, Silver, Sonic has caused me enough trouble throughout these years and I'll be damned not to keep him on his toes!"

"But… wouldn't you want to get rid of him?"

"That, I would, Silver boy, but how would it look if Sonic has gotten weak and soft over the years and then I come in and blow him away with a winds breath? So simple and anti-dramatic, no?"

"Hmm"

"The result would be people calling me a cheap shot and I would never be able to rule the way I want. In fact, I am still criticzed about my victory ten years ago even today! Letting Sonic get stronger then defeating him in his moment of glory will get me the respect I deserve! Now, GO SILVER! CRUSH THEM ALL!"

"No prob, clever egg, sir!"

With the rebels.

Merciless spots the moving motorcycles in her driver side mirror.

"Damn Eggman, you're so predictable." she mumbles. "This is exactly what I was waiting for!" She sets the truck on auto pilot.

"We're being followed again, Merciless." said a voice on her truck radio.

"Ya, I know but as usual they aren't after you, just keep out of the way." Merciless pulls out a gatling gun from under the driver side seat and struggles with moving it on top of the truck but still gets it up there. She runs to the rear of the truck while gritting her teeth and doesn't hesitate to spray down the opposition. "Eat this you bastards!" BANGBANGBANGBOOM! I all you hear, she didn't even give them a chance to return fire. Flare decides to jump into the midst of this and climbs on top of the truck. Red jumps to the rear of the truck.

"AQUA BUBBLE!" he shouts, a large blue water bubble engulfs him, also filling up the doorway and blocks any oncoming bullets. "You guys are lucky I saw those coming! Everyone get down just in case I lose power!"

"What about Flare?" N asked.

"She'll be fine, heat should be her specialty." Helicopters begin to swarm the truck but Merciless easily punishes them with her weapon.

"Looks like you got this under control!" cries Flare in amazement.

"Not really." Merciless replied. "My weapon just overheated, this desert is too damn hot to be using something like this."

"Oh well, I'll help!" A helicopter aims AT Flare and begins firing missiles, sadly, it has no aim so all the missiles fly over her head and hit the motorcycles that are on the other side of the truck. "Ok? What just happened?"

"Hmm, this is new to me."

Aboard the Death Egg.

"Um, Egg sir? We have a problem…the desert might be too hot to support my units. They're taking so long to attack and they can barely aim! What do we do?" complained Silver over Eggman's wrist comm.

"Hmm, they were transferred successfully to the desert, correct?" Eggman responded.

"Yup, other than the massive heat, everything else seems to be fine."

"Very well, keep sending in more units until I say to stop. I don't have any robots placed in Korubia anyway"

"No prob Egg!"

Back with the rebels.

"Um ok, now what are my attacks again…" Flare asked herself aloud as she began to think. Merciless face-faults.

"How the hell did you stay alive without using any of your attacks!?" she inquired sharply.

"Never really had to fight much. Then again, this desert makes my body feel…good. Lemme try something…OOF!" BOOM! Flare is knocked back by a missile and nearly falls off the truck. "GRR!" Flare takes a deep breath and red swirls of energy began to enter her muzzle. "HAAAAAA!" She releases a large fire beam on a random helicopter, making it explode, as the attack went on, she aims at more and one by one they all fall. "Whoa, that was spicy!"

"We're not outta the woods yet!" More helicopters appeared from nowhere.

"What…? Don't you have any attacks to help with?"

"I…have no powers…Only a special attack."

"Oh?" Flare felt her hands begin to tingle then she begins to form an orb of a fiery liquid between them. "My powers are slowly returning to me!" A stream of bullets head towards the girls and both leaped passed them. Flare looks at the helicopter angrily. "LAVA BLAST!" She thrusts her hands at the chopper, releasing the attack straight towards its machine gun. The weapon melted leaving the helicopter defenseless. Flare then grins evilly, which worries Merciless. "Leave this to me…!" She forms flames around her hands and closes her eyes for a moment, when she reopens them, they are like fire and she shouts…"FLAME BARRAGE GRRR!!!" She aims one hand toward the air and FWOOSH!FWOOSH!FWOOSH! releases loads of fireballs in a circular motion which explodes on every chopper it comes in contact with. On the ground level, the girls had no idea Sonic was doing his part by taking out the fake police car baddies. He easily dashed through them using his speed and created quite a mess in his path.

"_Oh come on Eggman! After 10 years, this is all you got!?" _he wonders to himself. Suddenly, a red lock-on cursor surrounded Sonic. "Wha-?" Beeep! ZZZT! "AAAH!" Sonic feels an electric blast hit him and sends him reeling, being left behind in the trucks dust trail. Red, who is still protecting the inside of the truck, gets locked on to.

"Oh crap…" he mumbles. Beeeep! ZZZT! "Grr..!! UGH!" The electricity blast shines greatly around him, bursts his bubble and brings him to his knees. "Where the hell did that come from?" Merciless and Flare also got locked onto and were also punished by the invisible blast. In the sky, was a shiny silver fighter jet.

With Silver.

"Dr. Egghead! I'm sending on of my most powerful unit! I cant stand to see them thrash my vehicles like that!" cried Silver.

"Very well, you may stop when it is finished. I will inform Merciless that I am watching this.

With the rebels.

"Merciless!" shouts Eggman over her wrist comm.

"What!?" she sharply replies back. "Call off your attack! You can end up blowing up this truck, it's already full of holes!"

"Bah! I don't care about any of that, you just do your duty while I watch for entertainment purposes." he then shut her off.

"Oh crap…!" Merciless hurries inside the truck.

"Wait!" cried Flare. Sonia, seeing that Red is a bit dazed from the shock, decided it is too dangerous and has closed the rear of the truck doors. Flare strikes a fighting pose and glare at her opponent. "Damn, well, I guess it's just me alone then." The jet lowers itself to Flares level. "_This thing is pretty small to be something of the military. I'm guessing this thing is not piloted just like those vehicle robots in Station Square." _An orb of blue electricity begins to form on the front of the jet and a cursor appeared on Flare. Beeep! The attacked was launched immediately. "Not this time!" Flare rolls out of the way at the last second to dodge and retaliate by firing two flame shots from her hands. Boom! Boom! Both shots explode upon impacting on her foe and seemed to do mild damage. Flare decided that the cockpit is most likely the weak point and that its better if she focuses all her attacks there. The jet quickly locks onto Flare again but this time the cursor seems to have trouble keeping a hold of the lock. Beeeep! The attacked missed Flare by a long shot and she once again returns a fireball at the machine. Boom! This time the robot seems more aggravated and flies far off into the distance. "_These robots always seem to have a pattern."_ The jet comes streaming back at Flare and attempts to ram Flare off the truck but she jump over it in ball form and THUD! The jet ended up with a cracked cockpit and bits of smoke seeped from it. The jet turns around to face Flare and two slots open up on its left and right side and a cursor appears around Flare, once again it wasn't focused too well. Suddenly SWISH!SWISH!SWISH! Metal electrically-charged discs launch from the slots and home in on the cursors position. The ones that shot further away come to the cursors from the direct front or back of the truck so Flare had to jump over those but there was one problem: none of the discs were colliding so every time it passed through the cursor it would boomerang back towards it but on an even farther scale. Flare soon realized that the top of the truck was now too dangerous and leaps to the edge and hangs on for dear life. "Damn! I'm gonna have to get rid of those discs first." The jet extracts its machine guns and aims at Flare who is only hanging helplessly in its sight. "!" BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG! The merciless machine fires but there is no target. Under the jet is Sonic running while holding Flare.

"Heh, looks like you can use some help." said the heroic blue hedgehog with a smile.

"Yeah, thanks a lot Sonic." Flare gets an idea. "Sonic! Throw me up there, on that fighter jet! Huh…?" She notice Sonic was sweating and struggling to hold Flare.

"Um, you're not exactly the lightest thing I've ever held and you're way taller than me…"

"Oops, sorry."

Flare spins into ball mode, making it much easier for Sonic to carry her.

"Ok, ready!?"

"Yeah, let's do it!" Sonic hurls Flare high into the air and black energy surrounds her body. She uncurls and is holding a large 10-foot black and purple sphere of energy in the air with both arms raised high. "TERROR BOMB!" Flare crashes on her enemy with the sphere and a large black light engulfs the jet and annihilates it completely, Sonic catches her. "And that's a wrap."

"Good job! You never did any of this in the city though."

"Something about that…it's like something prevents me from tapping completely into my powers there but when I'm exposed to the sun it all came back to me. Something is ominous about Robotnik Land."

"I agree but let's worry about that later. We should get back inside.

"Really, after your healing technique I feel a lot stronger." Mighty said to Red, continuing whatever conversation they were having.

"The bronze heal normally doesn't heal deep wounds like that thoghut it helps speed up the recovery process. I guess we can call it miraculous that you're not laying down hurt and dying but you should still take it easy." Red replied while examining the walls. His curiosity led him to the vent that were letting air into the room and keep the inside at room temperature. Sonic and Flare enter the room. "No need to tell us how it went, I'm sure we all heard the explosive results. What's up ahead is going to be a lot tougher so don't get too cocky about our wins."

"Yes, I remember D.R. mentioning the rest of the empire." Flare recalled.

"Well, I think we've had enough excitement for one day, lets grab some snacks from the other truck." Sonic suggested happily.

Aboard the Death Egg.

Eggman is watching all on a satellite camera.

"So, Flare's powers are now unlocked…that's just the first phase." he say to himself with a smile. Suddenly the monitor switched to Silver's face up-close.

"SIR EGG!" he blurts out immediately making Eggman fall back in his chair. "They beat the prototype!"

"Good heavens, Silver! You almost gave me a heart attack! Did you forget that I was watching!?"

"Oh sorry sir, I guess it's no big deal since that was a test run, right?"

"Correct! What was your analysis on the behavior of your units?"

"I hate to admit it but all of them couldn't resist the heat! I think they all blew a fuse or two because their aim sucked! Badly! I mean I'm no sharp shooter myself but their performance was painful! I couldn't even get the damn thing to drop a bomb on them when they were under it."

"I am aware of all that but would you say it was the fault of the transporters?"

"I don't know, they all seemed to arrive there in one piece."

"Perfect! This means we can start making more and distributing them around the country!"

"Um, Ok! Now what do I do?"

"Take the transporter device and report to the blast room and get ready to move the power orb there to the Death Egg."

"WHAT!? THAT HUGE THING!? FROM HERE TO SPACE!? Um… how?"

"The same way you got from here to the Egg Fortress. Look for the transporter disc near you." Silver looks around confused then spots a half-chrome, half-red CD shaped disc on the ground. He picks it up and examines it.

"This it?"

"Yes, it make look like a CD but that's for size compression, the actual control units are inside."

"Why hasn't it relocated me yet?"

"No coordinates are set. It is useless if it's jammed or has no coordinate set. Also it needs objects to lock-on to or else it won't activate. That is to keep it from teleporting fixed structures such as the wall or floor."

"Ok all this knowledge is making my brain hurt, I guess I'll hurry up and take the power energy thingy you stored…"

Late night of the same day.

Everyone in the truck is asleep. Shadow slowing regains conscious. He cautiously glances at everyone in the truck. All memories of recent events come to him.

"_So…it wasn't just some nightmare." _he thinks to himself. "_Well, I guess I have no choice but to follow these people…it's the only way to find out why…I am…alive…" _Flash! Suddenly Shadow found himself in an area of pure white. "Hm?" A hooded figure dressed in a cloak seemingly made of light approaches the black hedgehog.

"You're element is not wanted in Korubia." The figure lifts its hand and a white orb forms around it.

"Who are you and what do you mean?" The orb disperses.

"You're a shadow element, I can sense it. You mean to tell me you have no idea what you are?"

"…I have only recently regained consciousness and return to my former self."

"Hmm, I see. It wouldn't be right if I destroyed you when you don't know what you are. Once all is revealed to you then you'll know the reason for your wanted demise. For now, I bid you farewell." The figure waves its arms.

"Ugh!" Shadow drops asleep.


	26. Rebels of Good or Evil?

Chapter 26: Rebels of Good or Evil?

Morning time, 9:22 AM

The rebels are asleep as the truck finally halts to a stop at a large wall with an enormous black gate at it's center. The walls were barb-wired at the top to keep things from getting in or leaving out, the walls seem to stretch out miles on either side of the vast, hazy desert.

"Despite the damn assaults, I've managed to make it to Korubia." Merciless says on the wrist comm. to D.R. "The only damages are the trucks sides are filled with bullet holes and the auto pilot might have been damaged from the heat.

"Bah, all you do is bitch, bitch, BITCH! The doctor said once you get there to bring your ASS right back here on the double!!!"

"My ass huh?"

"Yes, your sexy sweet AS-!!!" Merciless shuts off the radio and sighs angrily.

"Damn bastard will get his one day!" She examines the gate for a moment then leaves the truck. "_I don't remember barb-wires on the wall on my previous visits here…Eggman must've planned ahead of time?"_

"Is this the place? You don't seem too sure." asks a deep calm voice behind Merciless. She jumps, pulls out a pistol and quickly turned around and is shock with who she sees. Inside the truck, the rebels have all awakened and Flare notices Shadow's disappearance and gasps.

"Shadow's gone!" she cried. The truck doors open.

"Relax." Merciless assures her. He's right here." When they all exit the truck, Shadow is outside waiting.

"Shadow!? Thank goodness! Something seems different about you…"

"He's regained his memory, just as I hoped." said Red.

"Yes." Shadow replied. "Thank you for that, Red." Red nods in response.

"You remember anything that happened so far?"

"It's all slowly coming back to me, I wasn't myself during those times so excuse my behavior from then. It was those chips attacking my memory cells but since my memory isn't gone I believe there was a purpose for that: to keep my strengths while making me more feeble-minded."

"That makes a lot of sense."

"Do you remember when you were bugged?" Merciless asked.

"I don't." Shadow replied in a low voice..

"How about your fall through the atmosphere that was on the news? I'm sure no one can survive that unless they had enough chaos energy running through them. I think yours ran out." Red asked. Shadow reached beneath his quills and pulled out a green emerald. "Ah, of course! A chaos emerald!"

"This emerald protected me…that's all I know…" Shadow glances at the sky. "Maria…thank you..." Suddenly numerous transport helicopters flew in an landed on nearby helipads.

"Sure as hell, I knew I was right." Merciless announces. "He captured rebels from other cities too!"

"Other cities!?" all except for Sonic, Shadow, and Red asked in surprise.

"Well, it only makes sense." said Sonia. "I mean, it's not like everyone would just sit around and let Eggman do things." A velvet calm-looking cat escorts an angry navy blue cat out of one of the helicopters.

"…and he on'y sent me here 'cause I rocked his bitch ass in da jaw before he flamed ma ass up! I'll do it again too! Crown me KING! CROWN ME KING BOY!!!" brags the blue cat as he starts dancing around even though he has handcuffs on.

"Shut the hell up already! Damn! You been talking since we left there!" shouts the velvet cat as he adjusted his sunglasses.

"Make me, son! Whatcha gonna do!" The purple cat shoves him to the ground and the blue cat flails wildly. Everyone sweat drops at this.

"AAAH!!! YO! THE GROUND IS MAD HOT! AH! DAMN IT! TOO HOT! I HATE THE GOT DAMN HEAT! AAH!" The velvety cat helps the fallen one up.

"Now shut up and wait."

"Man this freaking desert is mad hot, yo." He glances around. "Why I gots to be da only one witta hoody!? Ya'll need to get me something cooler like shorts and a tanktop man, but not none of them cheap ass suburban ones or I'll run 'round here butt-naked, for real!"

"_An ice element." _Red immediately noticed. More rebels were escorted out their helicopters and the gate finally opens. A convoy of desert military hummers and armor jeeps comes rolling out through the gate and surrounds the helicopters in an orderly fashion.

"Whoa, nice entrance." Manic and Sonic both complimented then they shared a chuckle. Armed camel guards come out of the hummer and dismount from the back of the jeeps and aims their guns at the rebels, some began to search the immediate area. After exchanging words in camel language one of the soldiers speak on a walkie-talkie and an oversized hummer drives in from the gate and stop right in front of Merciless' truck. After a brief pause a few soldiers step out the hummer and escort out a tall extremely muscular camel who is about 7 feet tall. His cold expression and white mustache shows that he is in his early 40s though he wears sunglasses. He slowly approaches Merciless. Shadow somehow felt as if his presence matched his own.

"Good morning, General Mulaza. These are-" Mulaza holds his hand up to signal silent from the gray fox.

"I know who they are." said the general indicating Sonic and Shadow. "I want to see the one called Flare." Merciless looks at the bronze-eyed hedgehog and she steps forward. "I see. Well, I'm sure you've noticed the change, Merciless?"

"What's it for?"

"For the new battle domes created here!"

"…?"

"They are stadiums created so people like us can fight freely without the fear of dying. Dr. Eggman told me to start registering any good fighting rebels just in case he need them."

"Need them!? You mean he thinks they'll just help him after being captured!?"

"Nah man, not me!" said the blue cat. "By the way, moose dude, you play b-ball? I bet you be dunkin' on MAD heads all day! YEAH!" Mulaza chants something under his breath and suddenly a shadowy aura surrounds the blue cat and he is muted which shocks everyone.

"I am a camel, not a moose. Speak only when spoken to, feline!" The blue cat stands jaw-dropped in awe and tries to speak but no words come out. "I have no idea with the doctor has planned honestly. I do know, however, that Sonic, Shadow and Flare must participate or I am forced to killed them on the spot. With that, the Mulaza points a pistol at Shadow's forehead.

"I have no problem." said Shadow. Sonic and Flare nodded in agreement so the general withdraws his pistol.

"Good then that's all I need to say before I announce who are going to be fighters or not. Don't worry as the only bad thing about Korubia is the weather if you're not immune to it as desert creatures such as me are. If the fighters decline they will be put to work mining in rocks all day and won't enjoy as much luxury as a fighter does. Fighters can walk about freely on non-battle days but to a certain limit and all fighters and workers are paid for their deeds as long as you all **FOLLOW THE RULES! **My secretary will explain more after my judgment." He looks at N. "The arenas aren't made for humans but you do get to serve at the Grand Dome where you will be treated with the utmost respect." He glances at Mighty. "Hmm. You seem like an armadillo that relies mainly on weapons. Though there are weapon matches here, it's no good for you to keep showing up in the same type of matches all the time." He looks at Manic and Sonia. "Nope, not good fighters at all." Both hedgehogs are quietly offended while Mighty just shrugged.

"Hey, that's not right! You can't just tell by looking!" exclaims Sonic. "I mean, what if they have some kinda potential."

"Unfortunately I'm a very busy camel and I have nothing else to go by. We must quickly-" The general was interrupted.

"Sir LOOK!" cried one of the soldiers looking through binoculars. The general takes a look through the binoculars. In the distance and approach fast were the same hover bike riders that wore white desert clothing and veils.

"Great desert hell! Someone must've leaked that I was coming out here!" All the soldiers get into their battle ready positions. "Ok men, it'll take too long to retreat! Fire once they are near!" He points to a yellow desert fox wearing a suit. "Razine! (pronounced Ray-zee-ne) Quickly escort them to the houses! I'll not run from these traitors again!"

"WOOT! Dis is what's poppin'!" shouts the blue cat. "Hey, I got ma voice back!" Razine quickly moves some the rebels into the large hummer.

"In ya go! We wouldn't want to see anyone hurt so early now would we?" joked Razine.

"AHH!" screams a soldier who is shot in the chest. "They….they're using snipers…!"

"UGH!" Another soldier is shot and one by one soldiers slowly fell.

"Grr! Damn!" shouts Mulaza as he takes cover behind a vehicle. Razine, what's talking so long!? Get out of here!!!"

"But sir, I don't want to just leave you here!" said Razine, also taking cover. Finally, the enemy came near and hovered over all of them. Mulaza draws his pistol.

"Don't be so hasty, general!" says a woman's voice. Mulaza pauses.

"Hold your fire!" Mulaza orders the remaining men. FLASH! Suddenly in a white ghostly flash, a female jackal with long black hair appeared riding a hover bike with the other enemies. Unlike the rest, her identity is revealed. She stares down the general with cold cobalt eyes.

"Mia! (pronounced Me-uh)" Shouts Mulaza coldly. "What you're doing is dishonorable and unjustifiable, stop this at once!"

"All I'm doing is clearing our beautiful state of the evil shadow element." replies Mia with a grin.

"What a smokescreen remark! You know I figured you out already!"

"You may have, but not the rest of Korubia did they?"

"…"

"_I wonder what this is all about." _ponders Red who managed to escape the escorting of the rebels and hide behind a jeep.

"You know I am the heir to the mayor of the state, you can't harm me can you?" the jackal taunts.

"Not until I can expose you! Your foot soldiers are already marked as rebels but they won't listen to me when I tell them you're behind it!" shouts Mulaza!

"Oh you won't be able to do that, nor will I allow it! In Korubia's eye soul is good and shadow is evil, all remember what element assassinated the previous mayors, right? These supporters are no more than a devil than yourself. SOUL LIFT!" She raises her hand up, which now glows blue, and all the soldiers began to lift into the air with blue auras around them. "JUDGMENTAL LIGHT!" FLASH! All of the soldiers drop to the ground extremely hurt, their uniforms badly damaged while Mulaza's pistol just bent out shape and lands on the ground. Mia laughs at their misery and almost loses balance. She takes out a device that fits on her top right temple and a red eye piece extracts from it. She looks down at Mulaza. "Damn, it isn't here. Oh well, I'll let my men take over from here, I think I want your head as a trophy. Goodbye evil one, SOUL TRANSPORT!" She vanishes in a white ghostly flash again leaving the men behind. They fly towards the helpless general with their scimitars drawn.


	27. Welcome To Korubia

Chapter 27: Welcome To Korubia

Just as the closest enemy comes near…

"Hedgehog Beam!" Red shouts from his hiding place and a blue beam trails from his hands and collides head on with the bike. BOOM! The explosion pushes Mulaza away and sends the biker high into the air.

"Ah!" shouts the enemy as he falls hard to the ground, head-first.

"OOOH! If he ain't dead, ya know damn well he don't wanna live!" shouts the blue cat.

"C'mon, let's go." the purple cat says while pushing the dark blue one away.

"Wait, Vicious, this is gettin' _gooood_!" He breaks from the velvety cat and runs over to the scene.

"Fine then, get yourself killed."

The other two bikers pull up towards the sky and dive back down, this time heading towards Red. Red didn't notice another one approaching from behind. He charges a blue orb in his hand.

"FREEZE BLAST!" he shouts and at the same time, the blue cat jumps on Red's arms and flips over him, slightly misdirecting Red to shoot the enemy's bikes instead of the actual riders. The cat lands on the enemy's bike behind Red, forcing him to pull up and miss Red by a long shot. The enemies riding on the frozen bikes crash hard on the ground and as the bikes slid to Red, he jumps and split-kicks both of them off the bikes at the same time. BOOM! Meanwhile the blue cat has just landed and the bike he was on crashed head-on with the ground incinerating it's rider.

"HAHAAAA! Just 'cause I'm from West Side City don't mean I ain't got no skills! CROWN ME KING!" shouts the blue cat as he began dancing around. "Hey Mr. Red, you owe me, my man! I take rings only."

"How do you know my name?"

"Aww man, it's been that long? Me and my homies in the hood used to see you sometimes in some gadget place."

"Gadget place, huh? I guess you're from West Side City then."

"I was a regular, man, my name is-

"We've delayed out here for too long!" Mulaza interrupted. Soldiers swarm in and capture the hurt enemies on the ground. "These low-life thugs are nothing more than bandits or terrorists. Unfortunately, they're our only lead in exposing Mia." He walks over to them. "I don't know how you guys got left behind but I can't thank you two enough. You've made my many medals look like nothing. I have to be honest, I thought you, Red, were just tough looking with no action behind it and you, feline, were just a mouth but no brains." The cat twisted his face while Red folds his arms patienly to hear more. "For now I can only grant you special permission to participate in the arenas. Hone your skills there in the meantime."

Minutes later…

Red and the navy blue cat found themselves being escorted by Mulaza's convoy into a nice desert city with many buildings made of marble and numerous water fountains spouting crystal clear water. There's flute music playing almost everywhere and public belly dancers for entertainment. Stalls were almost everywhere selling food or goods. Lesser versions of the hover bikes used earlier are acting as taxis to take people across town. All seems good in this town (Which seemed like it was its own country) though it seems to be unbearably hot and hazy. Red, being of an ice and water element combined and wearing white desert clothing to protect from the sun's rays, isn't too much affected by the heat as the blue cat who is only an ice element and is wearing a black hoody and is sweating rapidly while trying his hardest to fan himself and keep cool.

"Yo man can we hurry the hell up! I think I'mma die of a sunburn! Seriously man I'm an ice element, I can't take the heat! AH!" the feline complained while moving about in his seat. "Why couldn't we ride in those hummers!? I'm sure they gotta AC (Air conditioner for those who don't know.) or sumtin in there!" He takes of his hoody and uses it to fan himself. Red noticed, in script, a tattoo on his back with the letters "W.S.K" which he identified as West Side Kings, a gang popular in a western city in the country. He decides to ignore the matter for the moment.

"Relax, we are almost there." Mulaza assured him. Minutes later they arrive in an area with many small 1-story buildings. "You both will be living in one of these, they have the utmost convenient of services." Red and the cat were quiet. Judging by the outside, it seems like the buildings would be cramped.

"Yo man, you think they pullin' our legs? 'Cause I ain't staying I none of those!" the cat whispered to Red who had no comment.

"I know exactly what both, if not one, of you are thinking…let us get you registered first." Mulaza leads them into one of the buildings. Inside, both blue creatures are shocked as it was a decent marble and gray inside with cool air conditioning. To the back are the elevators and next to those were the stairs. In between it all was a desk with a computer, behind it was a dark skinned young lady wearing small circular glasses. She looks up from what she was doing and smiles.

"Morning General! Mr. Razine said you'd be arriving soon and Dr. Eggman showed me pictures of who will be fighting and I've registered them all ahead of time." she said and then turns the computer screen to show the pictures of everyone that was hidden in the sewers from before but Mighty's and N's pictures has a large red "X" over them. "I put an X over the ones he said are not a threat and the was armadillo escorted to the mining area. The ones that are here already have their own rooms on floor B3 and have their Fight Dome identification cards already but haven't met coach." Red immediately realizes that the buildings are built underground

"Why would he add the two I judged as- doesn't matter, there are more important issues at hand as it is. Get these two registered as well."

"Sure thing. I'm sure the others are with coach Cam so hurry on ahead, oh, and the left elevator is out of service for the moment."

"Thank you, Keisha."

As soon as Red and the blue cat reach the elevator, a silver trash-can shaped robot approaches them and a slot opens from its mouth area causing the blue cat to jump back in defense.

"Yo, what the f-!" he was about to shout but was suddenly embarrassed when a card with a picture of his face emerges from the slot. He sheepishly grins and takes it. "I knew dat! I was just getting' ready for da fights, ya feel me?" He looks at the card, on the name part it reads 'Karl Cattz'. "Yo, how he knew my name!? Dat's not cool!"

"The Empire knows almost everyone." Red assured him. "Now that I remember you're KC of the West Side Kings aren't you?"

"It's CK! Cold Killa, baby, representin' West Side City to da fullest!"

"I know who you are now." Mulaza clears his throat to interrupt.

"I have things to do so hurry on." he rushes them onto the elevator. Inside the buttons consisted of floors B1-3 and other buttons labeled Coach, Sparring, Workout and Resource. Mulaza presses the Coach button and the elevator immediately follows. They arrive in a small corridor with only a simple door at the end. On the other side stood the rest of the rebels with an orange female coyote woman with long red hair in a pony tail with one long bang, sharp purple eyes and a serious looking face stands in an small office. She wore a blue overalls with a matching head band with a white letter "V" written on it. She is in her early to mid-20s.

"Morning, Cammy, I'm just dropping off these last two with you. Where's Razine?"

"He just left not a moment before you arrived, he went up the stairs." Cammy replied with a shrewd voice.

"Hmm." Mulaza exits through the elevator.

"So what I miss?" CK inquired.

"Lucky for you, nothing, I was just about to speak so shut up and listen so I can make this quick. Me and another coach were assigned to have you rebels on our team to fight whether we like it or not. Normally all my fighters are hand picked or chose by the good general Mulaza or another ranked officer. Now what we normally do at the Fight Dome is set up exhibition matches based upon votes in the audiences. There are votes for different grades of fighter groups. This group is the beginners group, it's blue. The colors range from blue, green, red, white, gray, black, bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. Gold and Platinum are for the champs though. Now, being as you guys are rebels you are not allowed to roam around after 10pm until 6am. You are to remain inside this building, B1-C then." She lays out two single keys on the desk. "Red, Karl, take these, they're for your rooms, you can get in using your ID but first you need to use the keys for identification and registration." Both take a key Red's is B3-J while CK's is B3-I. "Also specifically you guys have to report to every fight that is announced for you, you are free to roam about when you're not called for a match.

"How will we know when to report for a match when we are away?" Sonia asked.

"Easy, your ID cards are fitted with a vibration device that lets you know and also it will glow red. They also have tracking devices so don't think I won't know where you are! If you're spotted breaking the rules or don't have any ID with you, you'll be executed and the hell if I'll be responsible for it. Since you guys are now official fighters for the Fight Domes, you'll have to wear your rank colors at all times. Blue through red is not really respected much so you'll have to work your way up the rank by winning fights, this and other things can be explained later, I'm sure you'll learn the dos and don'ts as you go along. If you're worried about insurance or what not, don't worry, it's impossible to die or get permanently injured here... or at least in the matches. You'll noticed even the high ranked fighters suffer no scars besides the ones they already arrived here with." Everyone looks at her, confused. "Now, I think that takes care of everything, if any questions when I'm not in my office just slide your ID cards into one of the convenient help bots that are basically everywhere in the state or ask the secretary of this building, Keisha, for assistance. Oh, and before I forget…" She fumbles in her desk drawer and takes out a hand full of odd looking black watches. "These are map watches, MWs I like to call them, they can detect what part of Korubia you're in and give you an full overhead view of the state itself. It's like a portable navigator."

"So when do we do some head-smashing? I'm ready!" says Sonic, psyched.

"Erm…well…since you are very anxious, I'll make sure to have you guys registered for the actual fights tomorrow, today was just the initiative. Just leave your things in the lockers of your room, switch to your rank clothes which can be found there as well and take the time to explore. I have to hurry to the arena, take care of yourselves." She heads off in a hurry.

"So…what's the plan now?" Flare asked. "This place seems to have no connection in what we're looking for."

"Wrong…" Shadow commented. "There were military bases when we entered here that you may not have noticed.

"He's right." agreed Red. "Merciless did mention that there is a base which contains the data chip we're looking for. As there are certain limitations, it's best if we all don't go looking into it at once."

"So what do ya think we do?" Manic asked. "I mean, with the fight things and stuff, there ain't much time for looking around except when we are free."

"If any of us get caught snooping, it could ruin it for the rest. Let me do all the investigations."

"Hey, why leave us outta all the fun!?" Sonic complained. Red morph into a puddle of water then returns to normal. "Oh, that."

"My ability to transform into water makes me perfect at stealth. Besides, you young ones need a lot more training than I do."

"Eww, like you're that much older than us." said CK with a grin.

"I have about 10 years on you all but anyway, I think it's best if we know our surroundings well and split up for the time being."

"Heh, it'll only take me a second to learn the place by heart." said Sonic and WHOOSH! He zoomed off in a blue blur only to return. "Oops almost forgot to switch clothing." On floor B3, the doors were aligned on either side of the corridors in rows of fives. Red found himself on the end with the door labeled "J" and CK was in the one across from him. Inside is a small bedroom with a lamp and a bathroom. In the back was a computer screen installed in the room and a locker next to it. He opens the locker and a few books fall out the top. One that catches his eye is labeled "Weaknesses". He skims through it and discovers that it talks about weak points of many anthropomorphs including hedgehogs.

"_This can be useful, guess whoever was in here last was reading this." _he thinks to himself as he switches his desert clothing with the blue overalls that were stored in the locker, lucky for him they seemed to be brand new. He glances around the room a bit more and notices an air vent and decides that's how he's going to escape at night times. "I'll let the others explore while I read this for a while." He flops onto the bed and reads the book he picked up.


	28. The First Round Begins!

**Before we begin, I would like to announce that the Silver used in this story is not and is no way related to the Silver involved in the new Sonic Games in any way. My character, Silver, was made up after Sonic Adventure 2 (Not Battle) was released. Also, he has a last name. Thank you and enjoy :-).**

**-D.R. The Hedgehog**

Chapter 28: The First Round Begins!

5:50AM, the following day.

Sonic and the others are a bit surprised to have been waken up early by Keisha and taken through a process which involved them getting their height and weight taken in the workout room. Everyone is wearing their blue overalls

"Woulda done it yesterday but was too busy." said Cammy. "Had to get ya all started quickly so we can do your first match today."

"I wish they had a better variety, blue clashes with my fur color." Sonia complained.

"Don't worry about it."

"Memorized the area good, guys?" Red murmured lowly to the rest. Everyone except Sonia was a bit unsure.

"I have photographic memory." Sonia assured him.

"Good."

"MORNING COACH CAMELLIA!" boomed a gruff voice from the elevator.

"Damn…" cursed the coyote tacitly. From the elevator emerged a brown groundhog about 4'6" in his mid 40s, wearing a Korubian army uniform similar to what Mulaza wears but with a few less badges on it. He is quite chubby, bald with a short black mustache and a face which looks as if he loves to bother people. Following him is a tall, quiet, muscular black grizzly bear who seems to tower far over everyone in the room including Red who is 6'5". He has fierce green eyes and wears a black karate-style suit with a black headband with a red letter 'U' on it. "What now, Colonel?"

"Not here to see you, sweetheart, I wanted to check out the newbies Mulaza sent ya!" He eyes the rebels up and down which almost provoked a commented form CK but Red does a gesture which shuts him up. "A buncha hedgehogs and a pussy? ("_Bad thing to call a feline that…" _Red thinks to himself.) This is sad, the general is losing his touch…or maybe his sight. This is gonna be an easy first match; I'm sure they weren't too much of a trouble to be called rebels."

"A PUSSY!?" CK cries out in incredible outrage. "OH YOU DEAD NOW, HOMIE!" CK leaps powerfully over the group. Quickly the bear reacts.

"Air Ball!" he mumbles while exhaling a ball of gray air which stops CK on the spot and pushes him back. Using his feline agility, he lands on his feet.

"Oh, you're boy wanna pop off too!?"

"Vell, I'll take care of the noob. (Short for newbie for those who don't know.)" the colonel said calmly.

"Aight, bet, watch THIS!" CK extracts his claws charges at him at high speed and SLISH! He slashes the colonel across the face with brutal force which makes the colonel turn back and the two female hedgehogs gasp a bit and the male hedgehogs to tense up. "Yeah, BITCH! Crown me king! Don't ever call me a pussy, I'mma cat bitch, get it straight next time or I'll do the other side of ya face!"

"HAHAHA! Now THAT'S the spirit we like here! Unfortunately…" The colonel turns his head back to reveal…nothing, he wasn't touched! "…you missed me" He says with a grin. CK drops his jaws in awe.

"I don't get it, we all watched, he clearly slashed you." said Sonia in shock.

"A-And I felt it! I clawed your ass!" protested the cat.

"Ah, such newbies…if you don't learn quickly, you'll never survive here!" Only Red knew what he did, a split second before the colonel was slashed he released a quick, high pressured air current which CK felt as the colonel's face but the colonel was actually protected by the quick stream of air which didn't allow the effect of CK's slash to continue.

"Lemme try again!" SLISH! The colonel turns away and turns back with no damage. Vell steps forward.

"Hold it, Vell. This kids got spunk, but that won't be enough. C'mon KITTEN, show me what you've got!"

"OH HELL NO! TIME TO DIE, OLD MAN!" He attempts another slash but the short groundhog calmly jumps over him and uses him as a springboard to hang onto an overheard support beam.

"Knock it off!" Cammy quickly breaks in.

"Nah, no one calls me a kitten! Get your ass down here!" CK growls angrily.

"What did you come here for anyway!?"

"Oh right, besides to mess with your noobs, they chose me to select one of my new fighters to pit against them. I was just curious on how you got so many rebels while I only get two!"

"I don't make the choices on what coach gets what rebel from the EE."

"Eh, guess you're right, well, I'll just make sure the rebels I have will dominate yours. Mines look tougher anyway, ain't that right, Vell?" The large bear nods tacitly. "Hey, being as we have more than enough time 'til the official matches begin, why don't we show them how the arena works?" Cammy seems a bit hesitant.

"Fine then." she agrees after a bit. On the sparring floor, the area is gigantic with many arenas enclosed by pink barriers. Aside each of the eight arenas stood a black hooded figure wielding a staff which gives off purple auras, possibly the power source of the barriers. Many fighters of all ranks are either in the arenas fighting while others stood by and observed, commented, or cheered. "Though small, these are actual replicas of the official arenas. The people you see at the side are of the magic element and protect the arena with spells to keep attacks from letting off onto the audience and to keep our fighters from dying."

"Cool, that makes it the ultimate place to train!" Sonic exclaims.

"Heheh! You're right, boy. Cammy, let us just do a small demonstration!

"Fine. Let's do this quickly." The two climb onto the arena and the nearby mage (Short for magician) lifts up his staff.

"What type of arena and barrier?" he calmly asked.

"Both plain, my good man. We're just showing a demonstration." the colonel says cheerfully. After they were completely inside the arena the mage chants while raising his staff and a purple aura surrounds the staff and the arena. "Thank you."

"Now, basically the spell he set keeps us secure in the arena so no attacks can get out and we can't die-" Cammy began to explain but was cut off.

"Blah, blah, blah! They're adults for freak sake! They can interpret what's going on!" He rams hard into her stomach with his head then delivers a hard roundhouse which sends the woman flying to the edge and she hits the barrier hard like a wall.

"I wasn't ready!"

"You're the one that said to make this quick." he jumps and prepares to come down with a slash.

"COYOTE STRIKE!" Cammy exhales a pointed red beam which strikes the colonel in mid-air and knocks him down on his back. She charges energy in her foot and runs over to him and delivers a swift kick. "CHAOS KICK!" BOOM! The kick is powerful enough to cause an explosion upon impact. Everyone in the area feels the breeze from the explosion though the debris stood within the barrier and begins to crowd around near the arena.

"You have to give them credit, they're both very powerful." said a random fighter to another one. When the smoke clears you see the colonel wounded but grasped onto Cammy's leg. Both are panting.

"HAHAHA! Let's just end this now, eh?" the colonel says with a grin. Cammy grunts with frustration. He leaps with her into the air and begins spinning her around rapidly as a black tornado encircles them both. "FINAL TWISTER!!!" Suddenly, the tornado bursts into flames. "ARGH!" The fiery tornado then lifts itself up and transforms into an enormous fireball.

"FIRE DRIVE!!!" The large flaming sphere suddenly drops to the ground like a ton of bricks and BOOOOOM! explodes upon impact of the ground.

"Flare, there is a possibility that you can use that move too." Red tells the light red hedgehog.

"Of course I can, I can master any fire technique if I try. I am a fire master!" she replies with confidence. When the smoke clears, Cammy is standing on top of the colonel, who is fatally burned. She had landed on his stomach. The colonel grunts then chuckles then laughs.

"HAHA! Well…I'll…be…MATCH END!" he shouts and a mystical white flash occurs in the arena and both combatants are fully healed with their clothing restored to normal, even the damage done to the arena is restored. The colonel stands up and smiles. "Well, I guess you have faith in the noobs after all! I won't ask you who you first challenger would be but I sure hope their first match would be a great one, I'll be keeping an eye out." He walks to the rebels. "I am Colonel Sezero (pronounced Say-zer-o) Groundsmith! Everyone just calls me colonel since I am the colonel of the Korubian army but myself and the other ranks in the military also work as coaches of the Fight Domes." He bows. "I'm sure to see you all again. Vell!"

"Yes sir." replied the large black bear as they both make an exit.

"That was pretty intense for a demonstration, ya think?" Manic asked. "I think I'm bailing!"

"Me too, I don't think I'm cut out for fighting like this." Sonia agreed. Sonic chuckled.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of everything." he said. "I'm sure that Egghead only wanted a selected few of us anyway."

"It's too much trouble going through the paper work for the cancellation, I'll just keep you two a bit in the dark 'til I can think of something. Now that you've seen how the arena works I guess that covers most things. Sonic, I'm choosing you for the first round so don't let me down." Sonic gives her a thumbs up and they all exit.

Later that morning. 9:35 AM, The Grand Dome.

Mulaza walks down a long fancy decorated corridor and enter a room. When he enters, he finds Mia and an elderly dark gray jackal who looks very similar to her, he's in his mid 60s.

"Mayor Jackson…" he began but stops to look at Mia who is smiling innocently at him.

"Ah, general!" replies the mayor as he lights a cigar. He takes a puff and continues. "How goes things at the domes?"

"Fine." he replies half-heartedly.

"You don't seem very enthusiastic today, something wrong." Mulaza glanced at Mia for a moment.

"Ah, Mia dear, step out for a moment please."

"Sure, daddy!" replies Mia cheerfully. "Hope you thrash those Shadow Hearts, general."

"Ha, so full of energy at the age of 32, wouldn't you agree? Why not sit down and relax?"

"I feel more comfortable standing, thank you. Listen, I still think Mia has something to do with all the disappearances of fighters and appearances of Shadow Hearts!" complained Mulaza. The mayor stands up.

"We've been through this before, general, stop accusing her! She's not capable of summoning anything or organizing a terrorist group!"

"I have PROOF!"

"Where?"

"The surveillance should show an attack at the front gate of Korubia."

"To the surveillance room we go then!" In the surveillance room, Mulaza and the mayor are watching a video and clearly it was around the same time of the attack before but all it showed was Mulaza's convoy taking the rebels into the state with no attack at all.

"I should've suspected it to be edited out. Damn it. Well, my lead is that anyone that is attacked and loses to a Shadow Heart is subjected to disappear. I've received a few reports that fighters were attacked by those silhouettes with red eyes."

"I see…well, continue looking into it and I'll do my best from here." After the general leaves the enormous building there is a flash and everything pass 30 feet around him becomes pitch black.

"I refuse to believe I'm hallucinating! Show yourself, Mia!" Instead of the female jackal, a silhouette in the shape of Mulaza emerges from the pitch blackness. Just as what he described, it has vicious glowing red eyes. "You're one of the Shadow Hearts aren't you?" No reply came, the figure just draws his shadowy scimitar and rushes to the general. Mulaza grunts in frustration as he narrowly dodges all of the incoming slashes that his opponent is throwing. "You're skills are weak! Cease this at once!" No reply, the figure continues to slash away until Mulaza draws his own scimitar and they began to clash swords but Mulaza manages to get in a few slashes and knocks the sword out of his impostor's hand. He knocks the shadow to its knees and places the edge of his sword to its throat. "You WILL answer me NOW! What the hell are you up to!? What have you done with the fighters!? Who do you work for!?" The shadow still gave no reply while staring coldly at him and simply just began to glow purple but before the good general could react…BOOOM! The figure explodes in a purple and black blast which sends Mulaza crashing hard onto the wall above the door of the Grand Dome. He lands on all fours but his vision is a bit blurred. He can, though, see that the area around him is back to normal. He weakly stands up and holds his left shoulder blade. A few concern citizens rush to his aid but he brushes them off. "I'm fine, my pride is still intact. You all should know that our most dangerous enemy is here in Korubia and is very close to us, keep on guard civilians!" In the crowd he glares at Mia who just gives an innocent wave. He walks over to her with his last ounce of strength and collapses right into her arms.

"Looks like you had some fun." says the jackal with a grin.

"You…won't get away with this…" Mulaza whispers to her.

"I love Korubia as much as you do, just do your best to save it just as I do my best."

"You…are…d-despicable" The general passes out as Mia smiles gently.

"We need first aid here on the double!"

The Fight Dome in Area A-1 10:30AM

"Sonic, you ready?" Cammy asked.

"Of course, coach!" replied the blue hedgehog as he stretched his legs. They open two large double doors and were greeted by the cheers of an enormous audience. A male human announcer with a middle-eastern accent stands in a floating device similar to what Eggman rides in and begins announcing. Red, Flare, Shadow and CK are in a dugout near the arena, watching.

"HAILING FROM TEAM VICTORY AND STRAIGHT FROM THE GRAVEYARD, I KID YOU NOT FOLKS, IS THE LEGENDARY BLUE HERO, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!" shouts the announcer from the top of his lungs which throws the crowd into an immediate frenzy.

"_Good to see I'm still remembered, just gotta remember not to get in over my head." _Sonic steps into the area and taps his foot while Cammy goes to the side. "I'm waaaaaaiting!" The crowd goes wild.

"AND A REBEL HAILING FROM THE OH SO COLD CITY IN THE NORTH, OCEANICA, UNDER THE EXPERTISE EYE OF **COLONEL SEZERO**! GIVE IT UP FOR TEAM UNTOUCHABLE'S VILÈ (pronounced Vill-ay) THE SNOWWOLF!!!" The colonel and a snowy white wolf with blue shoulder length braids tied in a pony tail approach the arena and the colonel steps to the side as Vilé steps up to the arena. The magician encircles the arena with the barrier.

"Wow, I didn't expect to ever have to face off with the legendary Sonic! I'm not taking it easy on you even if you are the worlds hero." Vilé says with confidence.

"Funny. I was almost expecting you to have commented on my disappearance." Sonic replies with a grin.

"We'll get into that later, but for now…"

"Let's do this!"

"AND WITH NO FURTHER DELAY! LET THE MATCH BEGIN!" shouts the announcer then GONG! The two combatants run toward each other each filled with confidence as their first match has now begun!


	29. Versus Vilè

Chapter 29: Versus Vilè

The snow wolf delivers a fast right hook but Sonic adeptly evades the attack and counters with an uppercut which sends the snow wolf airborne. After the wolf lands he releases a blast of cold air to Sonic who just disappears into thin air.

"Wow, you're even faster than what I've ever seen you on television!" Vilè compliments. POW! "OOF!" He is then hit from behind.

"Thanks!" replied Sonic. Vilè gets back on his feet and rushes at Sonic with a barrage of punches in which Sonic blocks them all. "Somehow I think you're going easy on me…" The wolf smirks. "Aww, where's the fun in that?"

"Look around you!" The wolf stops attack and Sonic gasps as he now notices the whole arena ground is covered in ice.

"What the-!" POW! The wolf takes advantage of Sonic's bewilderment and elbows him to the other side of the arena. Sonic tries to get up but keeps slipping to the ground. "Not good, not good!" Sezero smiles with content towards Cammy.

"Heheh, told you they were tough." he comments.

"He has an eye for these things." grunts Cammy in frustration but still has faith in Sonic.

"Ow! Oof! AH!" were all you heard from Sonic as his opponent bashes him around the arena. Sonic eventually manages to gain his footing. "Ok now I'm mad!" Summoning some of his chaos energy, Sonic unleashes his Speed Up ability and began running so fast the his legs seemed to appear in a figure 8 run.

"Whoa nice but there's one problem!" the wolf smirks as he creates a ball of red energy in his claws.

"What's that?"

"You're going nowhere fast!" Sonic then realizes he's been running in place on the ice.

"OH GEEZ!"

"FOX SLASH!" SLISH! Vilè slashes Sonic across the face with enough force to send him flying to the other side of the arena. Sonic crashes hard again the barrier wall and collapses on his hands and knees. Red realizes that the whole time Sonic only focused on using melee attacks and never unleashed any of his moves yet but rationalizes that he must still be weakened from his fight with the robots from the previous days.

"C'mon Sonic!" shouts Flare.

"Flare, ssh!" Shadow urges her.

"Huh, but why?" Shadow nods in the direction of an overhead electronic billboard which reads 'RULES' and under it says 'No cheering, no team support!.' Now Flare understood why the crowd was so quiet.

"Aww, that's gay!" cries CK as he stand up and approaches Cammy. "Yo, what happens if da rules are broken?"

"Sonic forfeits. Lucky us, for the first match we got the rules that apply to the teammate and not the actual fighters themselves." replies Cammy sternly.

"Aww, that's mad gay."

"Well, it was nice to get to fight you, but I really have to win now." said Vilè as he charges up energy between the palm of his hands and extends his hands forwards as the ball of white energy enlarges. "CHAOS PRESS!!!" A heavy ball of energy launches from his palms but suddenly it stops. The audiences gasps in wonder as Vilè has also stopped and is in suspended animation as if he had become a statue.

"Huh!?" gasped Cammy and everyone else except Red.

"WHAT!?" shouts Sezero. .

"Hmm, I wonder what he used to do that?" Red wonders aloud.

"Yo, that's some crazy sh-" CK began but was cut off by the colonel's outburst.

"IT IS IMPOSSIBLE! HE STOPPED TIME!" he yells angrily. Sonic smiles with content.

"Now it's my turn!" Sonic jumps into the air and with all his might, kicks the energy ball back to Vilè and BOOM! The explosion is powerful enough to smash him against the wall and fatally wound him, he was also restored back to normal time. The white wolf was dazed badly but still manages to struggle to his feet.

"Ugh…you can…stop time…?"

"Yup, but only up to 25 seconds using my Time Stop ability."

"Wow!" He shakes off his dizziness and rushes as Sonic again but Sonic seem to vanish in thin air and appear right beside him and pulls off a nasty sucker punch knocking Vilè to the ground. Vilè then realizes that the explosion of the attack he used earlier has destroyed most of the ice coating on the floor. He places his hands on the ground but no ice will come out and he is swiftly kicked into the air by Sonic who jumps to intercept him and delivers a heel kick to the snow wolf's stomach and knocks him hard onto the arena ground, cracking it. Vilè, however, wastes no time in getting back up. "Grr, how did you know that Chaos Press also drains your elemental energy?"

"I didn't, I just waited 'til you did something that will help me get rid of all this ice. Your attack came just at the right time, I had almost given up hope and was getting ready to go full power on you."

"Huh? Full power? I thought you said you weren't going to hold back?"

"I said that because you said it but I realized that you can do way better so I held back also I've also noticed you're a bit intimidated by my speed."

"…"

"Hey, it's up to you!"

"…Ok, I'll fight seriously. GRRAA!" Vilè's ponytail waves wildly as he begins to charge up power. He was now enveloped with a blue ghostly aura.

"Much better!" Vilè runs to Sonic with extreme speed and begins bashing him around with fast combos before uppercutting him high towards the top of the barrier. While airborne, Sonic manages to regain his footing. "SONIC WIND!" The attack hits Vilè head-on and knocks him back towards the ground. Vilè skillfully lands on his feet and turns around to see that Sonic has vanished. He closes his eyes for a moment and blocks in a random direction which ends up stopping a flying kick from Sonic and he roundhouse kicks the blue hedgehog towards the middle of the arena. Sonic gets up only to receive a hard kick to the jaw and gets knocked back down. The white wolf hurries to deal the finishing blow but suddenly Sonic sweep kicks him and sends him off balance and hurries to unleash a Sonic Wind which this time, explodes on impact upon hitting Vilè. Sonic jumps into the air and crashes down on the wolf's back with a kick he calls the Sonic Eagle.

"AH!!!" The white wolf cries out in pain. He felt as if Sonic broke his spine but he wasn't ready to give up yet. "ARROOOOOOOO!!!"

"Oh geez, man, are you OK?"

"AR AR AROOOOOOO!!!" Red stands up from his seat and grunts.

"_Sonic better watch out, that's WOLF HOWL!!! An attack that increases a wolf's strength by tenfold by turning them into a werewolf! The lack of attack knowledge from these guys will ultimately destroy them here!" _He looks at Cammy who also seems tense about the situation. "Coach, Sonic's opponent isn't crying out in pain."

"I know." Cammy grunts. "Wolf Howl! You can't become a coach here if you don't have knowledge about many attacks in the world."

"Ok, I see."

"Oh come on, it can't be that bad!" moaned Sonic. Sonic nervously glances at Cammy and notices the tenseness on her face and the stern look she's giving him. "Wait a second." He turns to Vilè and realizes a dark purple aura is encircling him. "Oh no you don't!" Sonic rush over to the white wolf and rams his fist as hard as he can into his stomach.

"OOOOOOOAAH!!!" shouts Vilè loudly as the aura vanishes.

"NO! GOT DAMN IT!" shouts Sezero.

Vilè gets up shakily while trying hard to catch his breath but it was no use, he had used every ounce of his energy for the attempted transformation. The pain from his wounds and Sonic's final attack had gotten the best of him and he collapses to the ground face-first with a loud thud. Sezero stands in a silent shock.

"Is it over?" Flare asked.

"Wait." Cammy replied.

"One...two...three..." the announcer began to count.

"Oh, this is like boxing, the guy gotta count to ten right?" asked CK.

"Yes." the female coach confirmed.

"Woot, I'm so smart, crown me the king!" CK began dancing around.

"Eight…nine…ten!" the announcer finished. GONG! The loud noised scared CK from his victory jig. "AND THE WINNER, BY KNOCKOUT, IS SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!!!" Flare jumps up and down and claps happily.

"YEAH BABY! WOOT!" Cammy lets out a sigh of relief.

"_Impressive." _Shadow thinks to himself.

"The first of many." Red reminded himself.

"Well, I did it." Sonic mumbles. A mystical white flash envelopes the arena and Sonic's wounds are heal, clothing is restored and pain has vanished but he still feels tired. Vilè has also been revived into full health. He stands up and shakes Sonic's hand.

"Haha! That was a great fight!" the snow wolf cries happily.

"Nonsense!" shouts the colonel as he zooms into the arena. "Somehow you got team support! You wouldn't have figured out he was transforming unless someone told you!" Sonic chuckles.

"No one told me anything." the blue hero smirks with a sweat drop as he scratches the back of his quills..

"You looked towards your coach! She had to say something!" Cammy then zooms onto the arena and jumps in the colonel's face.

"I didn't make any gestures or say a word to him." she cried.

"I didn't say anything about gestures! Thank you for admitting it, cheater!" Sonic and Vilè watch both coaches with a sweat drop.

"Enough." said a female voice from above. A pink female hawk with sharp yellow eyes wearing a white cloak descends onto the arena.

"Ah, overseer Mitzy! (pronounced Mit-zee) What brings you here?"

"I've watched every detail of the fight."

"HA! Then being a hawk with your Acute Eye ability, you would know that Sonic cheated! Make it official!" The hawk looks as Sonic whose heart skips a beat.

"You can relax Sonic, though you looked at Cammy, she didn't make any obvious signs or hints."

"WHAT!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN!? With all due respect of course."

"Sonic looked at her facial expression and in her eyes and knew something was wrong in the fight. Therefore, it wasn't team support nor a part of cheering, just simple examination and interpreting."

"HAHAHA!" Sezero pats Sonic on the back. "Well, I'm impressed! For all these years I thought it was impossible for any teammate to still be able to help a fighter with those rules. Very subtle, Sonic, now I see why you're a hero!"

"Heh, thanks." Sonic says with a grin.

"However, I didn't come here to judge the fight as I normally do. General Mulaza was attacked around an hour ago and we have reason to believe that the Shadow Hearts are behind the attack."

"They got Mulaza!? Damn bastards!" shouts the colonel. "Take me to him now!"

"Sure but first." She magically makes a small white staff with a crystal ball embedded at the top of it appear in her hand. She lifts the staff into the air and a white light envelopes everyone in and around the arena.

Sonic find himself back in his room and reasons with himself that everyone must've been taken away the same way. Sonic flops onto his bed but before he could relax… KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! Someone knocks on his door. He answer it to find his brother and sister there.

"Hey bro." Sonia greets him. "Congrats on your first win!"

"Yeah, awesome match!" Manic compliments.

"Aww…it was almost nothing!" replied Sonic.

"Well, with the money you won, I'm gonna go shopping around, see ya Sonic!" says Sonia but Sonic stops her.

"Whoa! Wait a sec, sis, what do you mean 'with the money you won'?"

"Oh, when a teammate win, everyone on the team gets a small share of what you won! Isn't that cool? You don't lose any money but everyone else gets a small portion of it so keep winning, OK?"

"Oh cool, well see you guys later." Sonic flops back on his bed deciding it is best to regain some energy before doing anything else.

12:30PM, aboard the Death Egg.

Merciless appears from a transporter teleport and appears in a room full of boxes.

"Merciless reporting, I'm getting ready to distribute the final load of transporters to Oceanica now."

"Whatever, just hurry it up, these transporters are a part of my strategy and Oceanica is the main place I really wanted them set up at. Eventually I'll find a way to learn about chaos energy since none of my commanders are capable of remembering what it is. Tails is useless now that's he's converted." Eggman replied. Merciless had no idea nor the slightest interest what was Eggman's plan with the transporters until now. Oceanica was her hometown before Eggman's attack…


	30. Memories of Oceanica

Chapter 30: Memories of Oceanica

1:33PM, In the snowy city of Oceanica.

Merciless plants the last of the transports in the alleyway of a large building. She emerges from the alley and glances up at the sky. Snow drifted slowly and eerily from the sky and lands on top of buildings and parked vehicles.

"Heh, I never thought this weather would be the dread of me now." she says to herself aloud. "Doesn't even have the same homely feeling anymore." Though she wasn't in the specific area she still remembered what happened on that day…

10 years ago…a week before D.R.'s story.

BOOM! BOOM! BANG!!! Are the sounds you can hear all over the frozen battlefield as Oceanora's (the continent which Oceanica is on) armed forced fought against many robot fighter ships that invaded the area. An old military polar bear in his mid 50's is giving orders to the many soldiers fighting.

"FIRE AT WILL! DON'T LET ANY OF THEM THROUGH!" he commands. All of them are fighting to keep Eggman from invading the residential area. Merciless herself is working behind the lines in the command center on a computer trying to decide the best weapons suited for different situations.

"So far so good, we're holding them off!" Merciless shouts happily.

"You're the best at this!" said a white blue eyed snow wolf who is Merciless' husband as they exchange a kiss.

"Look, Eggman's forces are retreating!" shouts Silver who is working with them. On the monitor it showed many of the robots retreating. "WOOHOO! WE WON!" Everyone in the commander center cheers happily.

2 Days later some point in the afternoon…at a celebration ceremony in Oceanica.

The general is awarding many soldiers for their efforts during the battle. A large crowd is gathering, cheering for their heroes.

"Marcella 'Merciless' Whitefox and Simon 'Sure Shot' Whitefox! For their expertise on distributing weapons and helping to keep our soldiers up to date on which weapons to use for what dangers! They are just as important as anyone else though these two work behind the lines, in the past they were front line soldiers themselves." announces the general proudly as he pins medals to their uniforms. "Anything either of you would like to say?"

"No." replied Merciless "We're just happy, that's all!" An the couple exchange a kiss which makes the crowd go wild.

"Next is Silver 'Hurricane' Hedgehog! He used to be our most trusted lieutenant but has gave up his high rank to become out most trusted coordinator. Without him, we would never have been position so skillfully as to defend ourselves well against enemy forces." Silver approaches the stand with a blank face as the general pins a medal onto his uniform. "Anything you would like to say?" Silver nods and faces the crowd and chuckles then breaks out into a maniacal laughter.

"Hehehe! HAHAHAHA! I would like to say…LONG LIVE THE EGGMAN EMPIRE!!! DOWN WITH OCEANORA!!!" shouts Silver. This astounds everyone for a brief moment. Suddenly, Silver swiftly pulls out a semi-automatic pistol and BANG!BANGBANG! he fires three shots into the heart of the general. The crowd goes into a confused frenzy and many run to help the general.

"Never mind me! Get the traitor!" shouts the generals as he collapses with his last breath.

"HAHAHAHA! DISASTER STORM ATTACK!!!" WOOOOSH! The weather instantly gets cloudy and an enormous tornado instantly appears around Silver and begins to suck up everyone in the area and slam them extremely hard in random places. Simon hurries and ushers Merciless to a safe alleyway. When Silver's attack finishes, everyone is on the ground, dead. Suddenly, just as before, many robot forces come to invade the city but there is none to stop them. Merciless and Simon arrive back at the command center to deliver the bad new but to their horror the command center is annihilated and over it stood a large robot that resembled the Egg Carrier.

"Well, well, well! So you're alive after all!" cries Eggman who is in the robot. "You must be Simon and Marcella. I am Dr. Eggman!"

"Stay back!" Simon urged. "What do you want with us?"

"Oh nothing, just need you to help me conquer the world."

"We'll never do a thing like that!"

"Yes, you would! Oh, Silver!" Silver emerges from the top of the robot grasping onto a young snow wolf.

"WHAT!? SILVER, LET HIM GO!" Silver smirk as he jumps off the enormous robot but uses his power of wind to slow his decent.

"Help me, papa!" cried the boy. Silver then throws the boy in the air and he vanishes in a flash of light. Simon goes into a rage and runs at Silver but the silver hedgehog jump over him and delivers a left hook to the back of the wolf's head.

"AGH!" grunts Simon as he falls to the ground. "Silver…why?"

"He can't answer you!" shouts Eggman. "He's mine now! Now, since you won't join me, Silver, show him the way to the other world." Silver nods with a grin and withdraws his wind scimitar. Simon gets up to defend himself but it's too late! WHOOSH! From a distance Silver slashes horizontally and a sharp wind current flies from the sword and slashes Simon's throat. The snow wolf collapses to the floor.

"Simon!" shrieks Merciless in horror. She runs over to him. "Simon! Speak to me!"

"For-give…Sil-ver…save o-ur son…" he manages to say before dying of his wound.

"Simon!" Merciless holds him close and sobs.

"Aww, how sad, a girl and her wolf. Bah, animals! You can either end up like him and die or you can join me!" Merciless looks up at the robot with hatred in her eyes. The snow remained drifting silently and innocently towards the ground.

Back to the present.

Apparently Merciless had no choice to join Dr. Eggman. Yes, she did forgive Silver but her rage against Eggman never subsided…it only grew stronger and stronger over the years. Merciless regained her senses from her flash black and noticed she wandered far into the city to the exact same spots where the ceremony was. It had changed since then, there are machines and many reformed building in the areas now. Many citizens are working on the machines or carrying supplies to and fro many places. Merciless felt bad for them but she knew many other cities in the country are the same way.

"Damn, I've dawdle for too long." she mumbles.

"Damn, you sure did." said Silver's voice from behind her. Merciless felt as if her insides just turned to ice and turns to see Silver but to her surprise he wasn't wearing his usual mean look. Instead his face seemed more to understand how she arrived there and looks as if he arrived there for the same reason. "I have wondered about this place… A sense of déjà vu I think." Merciless knew what it was. Silver was having one of those individual moments where he's acting on his own and in that mind state he was lead to Oceanica. Merciless also rationalizes that he was on her trail before he went into that mind state and they bumped into each other by fate. She can never bring herself to hate Silver, he was a valuable comrade who never turned his back on anyone in battle. He even saved her many times back when the two were fellow soldiers. She remembered him telling her that he's from a mountain village and always dreamed of visiting a forever cold place such as Oceanora and when he finally did it was like heaven for him. They were all the best of friends, her Silver and Simon. Though her and Simon grew into more than friends, she always had Silver to lend them a helping hand. The swift death he delivered to Simon wasn't of his own actions but of Eggman's will. The real Silver would never harm a friend physically or emotionally even though he was very flirty with other women. Even now, she still feels as if her and Silver still share the same bond despite what he does or says to her. She feels that someday their bond with overcome Eggman's control and contribute to bringing down the Eggman Empire. Though the snow made it hard to move, she hurries to the nearest transporter before Silver can regain his altered mind state.

5:42PM, The Death Egg

Eggman hums his theme happily as he types something on his computer where the red fox still remains dormant. The master emerald is now attached to the machine glowing faintly. On the screen it shows a digital image of the ME and the tubes as the percentage on the screen rises rapidly from 0. Eggman smiles contently until BUZZ! An error message flashes on the screen.

"Nooo way! I can't believe this!" he cries. "Only 99 of power!? How can that be?" He ponders for a moment. "Maybe Silver was a little too rough in retrieving the emerald." He gets up to examine the emerald and upon closer inspection he sees where there is a piece chipped off. "Damn." said the doctor scratching his head. "It looks like someone tried to eat the emerald! Ah well, I'll work around it later. I'm sure my machines can find the emerald piece somewhere eventually."


	31. Versus Jadus Stryke

Chapter 31: Versus Jadus Stryke

1:45 PM, At the hospital in the residential area of Korubia in area D-4.

Mulaza lays in a hospital bed covered with scars from the explosion he experienced earlier that day. He and Sezero are engaged in an argument. Mitzy is watching the whole commotion quietly.

"Bah, with all due respect, BAH! Why can't you admit it, one of your bombs blew up on you! Look atcha! You're fine now! Now stop being such a sissy about your mistake and blaming it on the mayor's daughter!" shouts the colonel.

"Sezero, I've known you for many years, you know that I wouldn't lie to you and especially to the overseer!" Mulaza protests as he sits up.

"It just sounds a lil crazy to me. Listen, old chap, you're a tough guy! I'll come back when you suffer some serious injuries or something. Perhaps when you break a leg or two, eh? I'm going to go check on the soldiers then return back to the domes. Cammy's rebels just owned one of mine and get this: I raised him ever since he was a young boy from Oceanora, you know, the northern continent, supposedly had the best army before the invasion of EE ten years ago? Well, get better, bud." The groundhog leaves the room.

"I don't get why he's acting like this…" Mulaza felt Mitzy's eyes staring at him. "Analyzing?"

"Yes." she said quietly. "You know my elements are Magic, Heart, and Mind. However, I can easily tell whether your stories are true without reading your mind."

"Then you believe me."

"Yes. Your story alone can't work against Mia. You'll have to find a way to expose her to everyone."

"I'll do my best."

"I've also sensed the presence of another carrier of the shadow element who was brought into this state."

"What?"

"Yes, but he hasn't realized his powers yet. It wouldn't be right to purge him unless he learns the truth about himself."

"Is it an intruder?"

"No, it is Shadow of Cammy's team."

"Great desert blazes…! He's the hero from the ARK incident! You can't believe that all of the shadow elements are evil! I mean you know I-"

"I don't discriminate, I only do that of the will of the people."

"Listen, with all the respect in the world, I object! OBJECT!"

"I understand and you have every right to."

"Can't you help me? You're the highest senior authority in the state and the best magician, I'm sure you can do something to help!"

"I'm sorry, general, I only represent the citizens as a majority. When Shadow find out his element, he must be elminated immediately. You have no choice but to accept it."

"…yes ma'am."

"I'll heal your wounds now and send you to your office. Watch out for defective bombs…"

"…I'll walk to the base, no need to waste energy on me." Mulaza couldn't say a word. Mitzy is the highest of authority in Korubia then comes the mayor then himself. Mitzy waves her staff at him and a mystic aura heals the general's wounds.

"From what I sense, you'll get all the help you'll need." Mulaza silently gets up and leaves but just as soon as the hawk's words sink into him, her turns around to see she has already left. Outside the hospital, a young adult camel stood waiting for him. "I sensed you were nearby. What did you find out?"

"Plenty, father. We can discuss the rest in the office." replied the camel sheepishly.

2:22PM, Fight Domes.

Cammy has brought Shadow, CK, Red and Flare back to the arenas while Sonic was permitted to stay in his room and rest.

"Yo, why we here 'gain?" CK inquired loudly.

"Exhibition matches are decided by audience votes. They were so excited by Sonic's first match that they wanted to see more from my team." replied Cammy.

"I'll take on this match then. I still remember that camel's comment about me being just tough looking with no action." said the red eyed hedgehog as he brushed his bangs back.

"You might wanna cut those, ya know. It might hinder your sight while fighting."

"I like this style. It stays."

"OK LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! YOU'VE VOTED FOR IT AND NOW YOU'VE GOT IT! TEAM VICTORY'S FIRST WIN FOR THEIR NEW GUYS DELIVERED ASTONISHING PERFORMANCE, YOU'VE CRAVED FOR MORE AND HERE IT COMES! WITH A NAME AS MYSTERIOUS AS HIS FUR, HEEEEEERES RED THE HEDGEHOG!!" booms the announcer as Red steps onto the arena. A brown male armadillo with long frizzy yellow hair wearing a similar uniform to what Mulaza wears walks into the area with his teammates following closely behind. He beckons a red tiger forth and the mighty animal leaps onto the arena, he too wears blue but it isn't overalls, it is a Chinese-style fighter uniform and he has a blue headband with the letter S on it. The magician does the usual routine creating the barrier around the arena.

"I don't need an introduction! I'll end this quick using my rage! RAAA!" shouts the opponent as he lunges at Red. GONG! The announcers just rings the bells since the tiger just attacks without waiting. WOOSH! WOOSH! WOOSH! The tiger just swings wildly at Red who easily dodges while looking at the rules on the electric billboard overhead which prohibited the use of healing techniques. Easy for him since he doesn't use them often.

"Do you think that you can win only using rage?" Red inquired when he returned his attention to the fight.

"No, but I'm enraged that I can't save my village!"

"Oh, so you're a rebel too?"

"Yup! I'm damn well proud of it!"

"I see but you should save that rage for elsewhere, we both are striving for the same thing."

"Well, it's pointless beyond this point! So just fight me!" The tiger comes down with an attack known as the Heavy Claw but Red rolls out the way just in time and CRACK! the attack smashes the ground, kicking up debris. The tiger however doesn't let that set-back stop his continuous attacking.

"'Pointless beyond this point'? You lost me." Instead of dodging, Red begins to block the attacks so he can determine the tiger's strength.

"My people in the south…we've tried for ten years to put down any influence of…_them_!"

"Oh, the empire?" Red knows that in the southern part of the continent there is only jungle.

"YO! Whoop his ass!" shouts CK from his dugout seat. Red pays no mind to him.

"I refused to address them by that title!" shouts the tiger as he attempts another Heavy Claw attack, this time it hits Red head-on and sends him careening to the other side of the arena and THUD! his back slams hard onto the barrier. Red shakes off the pain.

"LOOKS LIKE RED ISN'T HAVING A LUCKY DAY TODAY, FOLKS!" shouts the announcer.

"Well, what can the empire possibly do with the jungle?" Red inquired POW! he is sucker punched in the mouth and then thrown onto the ground.

"He wants to take out the jungle and build factories on them! He's already established a base there!" The tiger steps on Red's head but he morphs into water and slides behind him before returning to normal and jumps kicks the red tiger on his back. "Ugh!" The audience cheers.

"A base, huh? Perfect!"

"WHA! What do you mean 'Perfect'!? You think losing my tribe is going to be good!? I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" BOOM! The tiger lets off a powerfully charged punch which explodes against Red's jaw and sends him airborne. THUD! Red lands hard on his arm.

"Actually…I said 'Perfect' for two reasons. One reason is you told me the perfect info I needed!" Red grasped his Bronze Emerald but remembered the rules so he left it alone.

"So, you're one of them aren't you?!"

"Maybe." replied Red but this time putting on an evil voice "You see, the funny thing that makes me different from them is that I've trained on my stamina and power instead of my agility." The tiger began breathing rapidly, huffing and puffing. His rage seemed at a peak now! "However! I am more agile than a prick such as yourself! HAHA! How did you get captured anyway!?"

"ROOOAARR!!" the wild beast lets loose a mighty roar and a black aura encircles him.

"A berserker potential!? My grandmother can do that, HAHAHA!" The tiger rushes to Red and delivers devastating blows and combos which sends the crowd into a roaring frenzy.

"Yo, Red!? What's up with you, son!? Kick his ass! C'mon man!" shouts CK. Cammy grits her teeth frustrated.

"Grr, at this rate, he's an embarrassment! Red, what are you DOING!?" she shouts.

Meanwhile, at the Grand Dome.

N is vacuuming the carpet floors.

"From an FBI agent to a cleaning lady…" she sighs. "How interesting the future can be…" She comes across a room where two lady camels with aprons and scarves that cover their hair on are polishing furniture and are gossiping.

"They threw in a cleaning lady today!" said the dark brown camel to the light brown one.

"Mmm-hm! I heard she's human too." replied the light brown one as she polished the table.

"I don't get how she gets the best job! All this dusting and polishing been making me a bit sick lately!"

"Oh, don't worry about it, honey, you get paid still even when you're sick!"

"Yeah but it gets annoying after a while." N stopped eavesdropping, it was pointless to listen anymore.

"_Gossipers should be of some use here I guess but how will I get any info to the others."_ she decides then continues vacuuming until she comes across another room where a TV is tuned to the beginners fights at the fight domes. "Hey, it's Red…suffering from an ass whooping…COME ON RED!!"

"Hey!" greets a voice from behind.

"EEK!" she shrieks as she turns around. "EEEEK!! Y-YOU!?" To her surprise it was T…or rather and older version of him. He is a big man holding heavy mining gear and a pick axe. "T-Tommy?"

"No, I'm his father, Theodore! I've heard about you, Ms. Auburn, I didn't think I'd ever meet you out here in the desert." This relieves N a bit, she lets out a sigh. "Even if security caught you here, all they'd do is tell ya to get to work. Relax a little, I'll take care of ya!"

Back at the arena.

Red is bloodied and on the verge of collapsing; he is panting heavily and trying to regain his footing. The tiger smiles with content.

"Ah, that took a load off!"

"Done yet…?" Red asked weakly.

"W-WH!!-"

"RHAA!!" With a mighty roar, a black and red aura encircles Red and his arms become water tentacles and begins lashing the tiger. WHACK WHACK WHACK WHACK!! His arms return to normal. He punches the tiger straight into his nose which dazed him then begins wailing on him with quick kicks and punches. He then releases a final uppercut which sends the red beast airborne and Red's arms become larger tentacles and WHACK WHACK WHACK WHACK!! lashes the tiger so hard and so rapidly he remains airborne while his body becomes all bloodied by the whippings. Red then uses his arms to pull the tiger down with full force and he jumps up to intercept POW! their heads collide and the tiger goes airborne even faster but this time hits his head on the ceiling of the surrounding barrier.

"YEAH BOOOOY!! HANDING IT TO HIM ROYALLY!!" shouts CK over the roaring of the crowd.

"C'mon!" shouts Cammy excited. "Keep doing it!!" BANG! BANG! BANG! Red now had the tiger wrapped up in his tentacle arms and was slamming him hard around the arena floor.

At the Grand Dome, with N.

N was explaining all of the rebels previous happenings to T's father.

"Hmm, and he's dead you say?" inquired Theodore.

"Yes, this was days back." replied N. The elderly man lets out a chuckle.

"Sounds like you've had quite an adventure! Don't think it's over yet, I'm sure you and your friends will overcome it all; especially with Sonic and Shadow on your team. Look, I believe that's a friend of yours opening an ass-whooping can at the Fight Domes now!" N turns her attention to the TV which shows Red moving around at rapid speed while delivering punches, elbows, knees, chops and kicks.

"Oh my God! That's Red!"

"Ahh! Well, I've kept you long enough I believe, I better get back to the miners! You should get back to work yourself." The big man retrieve his equipment and leaves. N turns her attention to the screen for a moment but decides to have faith in her friends and leaves

Back at the arena.

The tiger is hurt and on one knee panting hard while a white sphere of brightly glowing energy charges in Red's right hand as he glares the beast down.

"_I don't understand!! I was winning! I felt his energy get weak!!" _shouts the tiger within himself.

"I'll explain everything to you after the match. For the moment, you're dead!" exclaims Red. He thrusts his hand into the air and the sphere of energy launches to the top of the arena. To everyone's surprise however the ball stops in mid-air directly over the tiger and it opens a wall of light energy which is surprisingly silent but was painful to the red tiger.

"AAAAAH!!" The tiger screamed then a whiteout followed. Shadow, throughout the whole fight kept his eye on the coach of the red tiger who didn't seem to have the slightest interest of anything going on in the arena. He noticed the coach's eyes observed the audience as if expecting them to do something or was looking for someone specifically. The tiger lays on the floor darkened black and smoke rising from him, he laid motionless. The announcer looks at the magician who does a cut-throat gesture.

"AND THE WINNER BY A KILL IS RED THE HEDGEHOOOOOOOOOGGG!!" shouts the announcers and the audience cheers. After both combatants are healed the tiger weakly approached the blue hedgehog.

"You owe me an explanation!"

"You owe me your name." Red replies calmly while brushing back his bangs.

"I'm Jadus (pronounced: Jay-dus)…Jadus Stryke."

"Never would've guess I'd meet the master of rage in a place like this. Nevermind, I take that back."

"Explain it to me, please."

"It was simple actually, I just used your own strategy against you. I call it Raging Will though it's a beserker potential. That was the second reason I said 'Perfect', when my chaos energy reaches a certain level and when I get pissed off enough from getting hit a lot, I can unleash my Rage Combo which is a mixture of attacks such as my Ocean Whip, Ocean Lasso and Chaos Shine."

"You waited for my rage to subside which is my weakest moment…hmm, someone like me should never have fallen to such simplicity."

"You've already told me what's bothering you, I can understand how you lost; you should also understand that that could also be the death of you." The announcer cleared his throat to interrupt. "I hope to fight you again under better circumstances." Jadus nods and the two walk off stage. The coach shakes his head in disappointment but it seemed to be directed towards the crowd and not the fight that was lost. The opposing team leaves.

"Amazing, simply amazing! You beat a member of Team Strength." shouts Sezero as he enters the arena with his team, one of the members include Vilè who gives a friendly smirk. "He breaks his arm during the fight yet he was still able to throw some serious punches!" Red looks at the colonel intently. "If I'd known better, I'd say he healed hmm?" Red grunts annoyed and sits.

"Aww, that's what you always say when I win. No props at all, huh?" Cammy smirks with glee showing her cute fangs.

"Well, it's time for me to make up for losing earlier! Sherman!" A timid looking blue sea turtle walks shyly onto the arena. He wore the blue overalls and a wristband with the letter U on it.

"Oh word!?" shouts CK rushing into the arena. "I'mma show this wepling a thing or two! He tryin' to play us hard, yo!"

"Never underestimate your opponent!" Red warns the blue cat.

"I got this, ma dude!"

"Own the pussy!" laughs the colonel, slapping his knee.

"THAT DOES IT!" CK rushes the turtle who quickly withdraws into his shell. CK relentlessly slashes at the shell doing no damage whatsoever. After a few moments, Sezero gets bored of watching the one-sided fight.

"Sherman, hit him with AQUA BOLT!!" The turtle complies by jumping back while still in his shell then releasing a large heavy sphere of water onto CK's facing instantly knocking him out. After the ten count from the announcer, Sherman is declared the winner. Red and Shadow both shake their head. Shadow noticed the rule was 'Whoever gets the last hit after 15 minutes wins. KOs are still counted'. CK went down in less than 20 seconds and it was the one and only hit needed to win. Cammy slaps her forehead in embarrassment. CK gets up.

"My bad, yall! Yo that mystical auto-healing crap feels maaad good!"

"Hey, I won?" cried Sherman. "I never win, you must really suck!"

"DIE!" CK extends his claws and jumps at the sea turtle but then the nearby mage steps in and swiftly teleports the aggressive blue cat back to his team.

"Our time here is up for now." states Cammy as she leads the team out of the arena.


	32. Enter the Champion

Chapter 32: Enter the Champion

5PM, in Red's room.

Red is enraptured in the book called _Weaknesses_ when a knock comes on his door. He gets up and answers while still reading the book.

"HEY! What's good, homie!?" shouts CK. BAM! Red slams the door shut. "Oh word!? It's like dat? I thought we were cool!?" Red opens the door again.

"You can at least be quieter! Come in." he utters.

"My bad yo, I just wanted to say that fight you had earlier was poppin'"

"Wish I can say the same for yours."

"I know man, that's why I'm here yo! I been watching mad fights and weppas be using some crazy ass attacks, ya feel me?"

"Yeah…" Red flips to another page in his book. "Interesting, this section is about the weaknesses of a feline.

"Yo, you listenin' to me? I'm being serious, dawg!"

"I heard you. You want me to teach you a thing or two since you don't know any special techniques." CK opens his mouth wide in bewilderment.

"Yeah…how you knew?"

"From experience many people from urban communities never learn any attacks be it chaos or elemental. Judging by the way you were destroyed in your first match, you weren't taught much endurance either…only aggressiveness."

"Word, you don't learn crap in da hood. "

"Aggressiveness isn't bad for us anthropomorphs, however. It can be converted into power just like what I did in my fight."

"Oh word!? Yo you think you can teach me to do all dat crazy crap you did!?"

"We gotta do some basics first. Fight you gotta learn how to fight."

"Man that's ea-"

"Wrong!" Red broke, putting his book down. "Fighting isn't only about landing a hit and hurting the opponent! If it were that easy then there wouldn't be different forms of fighting, right?" CK nods. "You have to learn when to strike and when to defend. Defending is not showing that you're, in your words, a pussy but shows that you're smart enough to know when you're unable to keep attacking and that you know your limits. You see, in our area-"

"Our?"

"I lived in West Side City too. Getting back on track, in our area we only know to keep attacking and aim for the face. That's not necessarily fighting, that's brawling."

"I see where you coming from! So can you teach me?"

"Fine, let's do it."

Moments later, in the workout area.

"How much can you bench press?" Red inquired.

"A good 300 easy!" CK bragged. They walk to an unused bench press and Red places 150 pound waits on both sides.

"Show me that you're muscles aren't just for show." CK smirks and easily lifts the weights up and down about 30 times.

"See? Only a KING can do that! Bow down to my brawlicness!"

"Hmm…" Red adds 50 more pounds to each side and CK lifts that up 30 times also. "If you're so strong then how did a water attack finish you in one blow?"

"Honestly, yo, I don't even know!"

"Hmm…" Red recalls the fight and notices that the turtle was wearing an amulet with a water drop-shaped crystal on it. "_So item usage is not prohibited all the time, I'll keep that in mind. He hid within his shell to stall for time to release the amulet's power…unless that amulet has a secondary effect that I don't know about. _Alright, KC-"

"CK!"

"You have the strength but not yet the potential, I'm going to help you unlock it."

"Aight, that's what I'm talking about!"

"Hey, you guys are on my team!" exclaimed the young kangaroo girl next to them. She was tan with light brown eyes and black short cut hair. She too was bench pressing and unlike Red and CK, she wore a white headband with a green letter V on it and a white karate robe without a belt. It just hit Red that not all of the people in area are in team Victory. "I'm June, pleased to meet ya!"

"Hey, girl! I'm Karl but everyone calls me CK!"

"Sorry, we don't have time for flirting! I'm Red."

"Hee hee, I was just being polite, sorry to interrupt, mate."

"Let's hit the sparring room." In the sparring room, CK and Red find themselves standing in front of each other in one of the arenas.

"What kind of arena?" asked the magician eagle then he slaps his forehead. "Never mind, I keep forgetting that beginner ranks can only do normal arenas. This immediately catches Red's attention.

"Why is that so?"

"If I remember correctly, we ARE trying to encourage the increasing of ranks here so we try to lessen the stress on fighters by restricting some conditions. So beginners, blue, can't use any alterations."

"I see, and what about the other ranks?"

"Green ranks can have matches with different elemental barriers which can be very useful in obtaining fast wins and they can receive only defensive team support from only one person. Red ranks can get different elemental arenas and gain the ability to fight all ranks except for blue and those black and above; no other rank can fight blue except blue. White ranks can use either their own melee weapons or weapons in the arena depending upon the rules; they can also fight the black ranks and can fight fight dome coaches, also they can get put into handicap matches and they can receive defensive support from up to three teammates. Gray ranks can use ranging weapons and can fight the bronze rank and the champion if the champion decides and can receive defensive support from their own team while also receiving one attack support. Black and above ranks can do all of the previous things I stated but now rules can apply to the individual; they can also receive attack support from their whole team. Gold rank is the champion so only one can claim that title and platinum rank is for the true champion." Red does his best to remember all of the info.

"What the hell is a true champion?" CK inquired, puzzled.

"Good question! In fact, it's been years since anyone has seen the true champion. When the fight domes were first established about 6 years ago, the true champion appeared and breezed through the arenas at record speed. She wiped out most opponents in one hit."

"'She' huh? A woman?" Red asked.

"To tell you the truth, with her power, speed, and grace, we in Korubia believe she was something of a divine origin! After defeating an opponent, she heals them! That's when we hired magicians." Red takes it all to thought.

"So where is this divine whatever?" CK asked.

"None of us have any idea. Before departing, however, she passed down her powers to our current champion now who is her daughter. The daughter is gold ranked but we decided to call the mother the platinum rank."

"Basically the platinum rank is legendary. I understand now. Thank you." stated Red turning his attention back to CK. "Now, your training begins, I'm going to point out all of your weakness as I kick you ass around this arena." POW! Red chops CK across his face with all his might and sends the navy blue cat sailing across the arena and before he flew out the arena the barrier appear and stopped him.

"Whoops, I was thinking so much about the champion that I almost forgot to protect the arena."

7:36 PM, In the Fight Domes.

Shadow is in the middle of his first match against an orange female gazelle who wears the same blue overalls but the headband on her head has the letter G on it. He narrowly dodges her horn attack and counters with a fast jab and jump kick combo. She retaliates with an energy ball attack but the black hedgehog dashes around it and skates towards her. Thinking quickly, the orange gazelle unleashes a beam attack from the space between her horns known as Gazelle Beam but shadow adeptly dodges and unleashes a large Chaos Spear attack right into her stomach. The large yellow spear of energy sits there for a moment then…BOOM! It explodes splitting Shadow's opponent in two.

"AND THE WINNER BY A KILL IS SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG!!" The crowd cheers as Shadow walks off the stage. Cammy's team was small this time around. It only consisted of Shadow, Flare, June (who had introduced herself to Shadow and Flare during one of the matches that were in session) and a tan hedgehog who is sleeping on the dugout bench.

"Good work!" states Cammy as she pats Shadow on the back. She accidentally pats a quill on Shadow and secretly flinches and pulls out the quill from her hand.

"Nice, Shadow!" Flare cried.

"Score one for team victory." says June quietly.

"Flare, you're up next." says Cammy. Flare shyly walks onto the arena. The coach, who is a burgundy gazelle, summons a very mean-looking, muscular female giant eland antelope. Flare wears a determined look on her face as she glares into the eyes of her opponent.

"_I can do this! Just gotta remember what I've been taught back then and how I'm fighting now!" _Flare thinks to herself. GONG! Soon as the match begins Flare launches a barrage of lava balls which all hit directly. The large antelope smiles as if the attack didn't do any damage but suddenly FWOOSH! her fur bursts into flames.

"EEK! EEK! EEEEEK!" the eland shrieks as she runs wildly around the arena trying to put the blaze. FWOOSH! "EEEEEK!! HELP!!" Her body is now a large fireball and she begins dashing around the edges of the arena. The audience sweat drops, Cammy's team sweat drops, the announcer sweat drops and all of the other team sweat drops. The coach of that team just shifts in embarrassment. The large antelope finally collapses charred and hurt with smoke rising from her body. Cammy grins.

"She is an earth element, lucky you, Flare!" she shouts onto the arena. Flare nods in agreement. She then runs over to her fallen opponent only to be stopped by the eland's long horn through her stomach.

"Ack! Damn!" cries Flare in pain. BAM! Flare was then slammed onto the ground hard. GONG! The eland was immediately teleported out of the arena. Flare gets up, holding her bleeding stomach while looking around dumbfounded.

"VICTORIA BROKE THE RULES! FLARE WINS BY DEFAULT!!" shouts the announcer. The audience cheers and claps. Looking up at the rules billboard, it states that slamming opponents was prohibited.

"Always remember to look up next time." Cammy warned. Flare knew that the coach must've saw her enter the match without looking at the billboard and blushes with embarrassment.

"Sure!" exclaims Flare while scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. "Hm?" The crowd suddenly roars and goes extremely wild! Flare looks up to see Mitzy hovering above the arena with her wing silently cutting through the air to keep her afloat. She wears a gold plated head band with the word 'CHAMPION' engraved on it accompanied by a loose silky yellow sweat suit with a black karate belt wrapped around her waist. The pink hawk takes the microphone from the announcer and descends rapidly towards the arena floor. Cammy tenses up.

"Hmph, why is she bringing her ass in here…?"

"Ain't that the one they call Mitzy?" Cammy shakes her head.

"No, that is her twin sister, Orenda. She is the champion of the Fight Domes…!" Flare gasps.


	33. The Champion's Challenge

Chapter 33: The Champion's Challenge

The female champion waits for the crowds cheering to die down. She smiles calmly as she speaks into the microphone.

"Now, it's very rare that I visit any rank under white and look what happens when I do!? I get a boring one-sided bull crap of a match!" she exclaims. She then points to both coaches and Cammy grunts in frustration. "Coach Tammy and coach Cammy…I know you both can do better than this! I say you dump them and find better fighters!" The crowd roars in agreement. Coach Tammy calmly steps onto the arena and inaudible words were exchanged. Cammy then steps onto the arena herself and begins to argue with the pink hawk. "Oh ok ok!" FWOOSH! The champion soars into the air. "Coach Tammy believes that I should shut up and go back to the higher ranks while Cammy believes that because she coached me as a beginner, she knows her fighters are the best! Well!" She begin flying around the arena at high speed. "I think that sounds like a SPECIAAAAAAAAAL BAAATTTTTLLLEEEE!!" The crowd jumps up and down in excitement.

"_Somehow I don't think this is good!" _Flare grunts to herself. Cammy says something to the gazelle coach known as Tammy. They beckon the champion and exchange words with her. She grins then laughs.

"Hey everyone, these two coaches believe that their whole team can take me down!" The audience bursts into immediate laughter, boos and hisses. Cammy snatches the mike from Orenda.

"Our special battle will be tomorrow at 9PM SHARP! First me and Tammy will take her on ourselves then we'll let our team do the rest of the dirty work." A purple aura lifts the mike from Cammy's hand and makes it land in Orenda's hand. She used telepathy.

"This is so unfair!"

"Scared?"

"No, I was saying it's unfair that you don't help your teammates! It may reduce the speed of their floor waxing." Cammy just rolls her eyes. "Well, you heard it folks! Team Gazelle and Victory against YOURS TRULY!!" The crowd goes wild. Cammy beckons her team to follow as she leaves the area. Flare follows more closer than the others.

"What's a special battle?" the light red hedgehog inquired.

"A fight where it's planned by either the coaches, champion or any high ranked official in Korubia or the EE. They can also set the rules or have a no rule battle."

"Oh…"

"Our team is done for the night, remember, no wandering after 10PM. I have to inform the rest of the team."

Aboard the Death Egg.

Eggman is talking to someone on a monitor screen.

"The general was too busy to test the radius bomb so I decided to try it out myself." said the figure gleefully. The person sounds like a teenager.

"Good work! What were the results!?" the evil doctor asks anxiously.

"It was like, ya know, BOOM! The fireworks were pretty! I also got to fly the Cobra prototype, it was fun!"

"What about the traitor, Lieutenant Tor and his units?"

"Oh, they were a part of my firework spectacular! They must be blown to itsy-bitsies! I sent his journal to the Egg Fortress a few days back."

"Great work! I'll have Silver pick it up. How about any new on the so-called Shadow Hearts of Korubia?"

"I don't! Those guys are good! They destroyed all the Egg-Robos in the state!"

"Hmm, it lacks Empire influence as it is! I'll deal with it once I'm done."

"Coolies! Later, dude!"

"It is Egg-!" The monitor shuts off before he finishes.

"Eggerism!" Silver greets happily as he walks in.

"Silver, there should be a package with a journal inside the Egg Fortress, go fetch it!" He presses a button and Silver is warped away before he can utter a sound. D.R., Amy, and Tails walk in.

"Good greatness, sir! Don't you get bored of sitting at a computer all the time?" inquired D.R. as he sat next to the desk.

"I am a scientist, it's one of the things I do!"

"Whatever, listen me, orange, and pink-"

"AMY!" shouts Amy.

"Tails!" shouts Tails.

"Yeah yeah!" the dark red hedgehog continued. "Well, we all came because we are bored out of our asses! What are the rebels up to?"

"They're being whipped into shape in Korubia. Lucky for them, the worst weather hasn't hit yet." Eggman replied as he fixed his spectacles.

"Whipped into shape? You mean as in fighting?" asked Amy excitedly.

"Whoa really!?" asked Tails as he flies above Eggman. "I wanna fight too, even a mechanic like me needs to burn of some energy with a bit of ass-kicking!" The three elites then begin to nag the doctor.

"A_ccording to my research this is perfectly natural. Well, I guess it does help keep them on top of their game just in case." _Silver then appears.

"I got the journal!" he exclaims as he hands it to Eggman. He looks and sees everyone nagging Eggman so he joins in too and begins to speak in gibberish.

Meanwhile, in the Korubian military base in area E-2.

Mulaza and the younger camel, who is his son, are still talking.

"…As I've stated before, I believe I've found Mia's base of operation but it seems when someone gets near it, it vanishes! It's as if it's on a different plane of reality." the young camel continues from whateer their conversation was. The general thinks for a moment.

"How did you travel there?" he asks.

"Foot platoon. I've tried to approach from every side on many different nights."

"Tomorrow we'll-"

"No! It's not in our best interest to try again right away. We should wait about a week."

"You're right. Assuming we make it in, how many Shadow Hearts are we up against?"

"There is still no way of telling but with the way they're able to sneak around, I'll bet it's only a small group."

"I see, thank you Muleza, (pronounced Mew-lee-za) in the meantime you do your best to find out any info in town while keeping a low profile. Next Sunday, I'll personally fly towards this pyramid. I'll also check around the mayor's office for any of his ties to the Shadow Hearts."

"Be careful, father. By the way, did the news reach you about Tor and his units?"

"No but now that you've mentioned it, he's never been around."

"They were killed…"

"Great desert blazes…my nephew, Tor, too!? How many killed!?"

"All of them…it was a radius bomb attack."

"By heat of the sands! That means we have an insider!"

"Yeah and truthfully, I think it's our best pilot that Eggman sent us."

"Grr…where's lieutenant Slash?"

"I believe he is resting in his quarters, he's been coaching all day."

"Alright, inform him of the situation. He'll keep eye on each soldier for us. We must take care of this threat quickly for the sake of ourselves and all of Korubia!" Muleza nods and leaves with a determined look on his face. In a dark corner of the ceiling, a pair of yellow eyes has been watching the conversation. When Mulaza closes the door, the figure swiftly leaps from the dark corner and POW! delivers a devastating blow to the general's neck, instantly fainting him. He helps the general into his sleeping clothing and rests him onto his nearby bed. He then inject a blue substance into his neck. The figure was revealed as a teenage bee about 17 years of age. He wears pilot clothing and a pilot helmet on his head.

"Done like a pro heheh! This fluid would make sure he'll believe he was just too tired to do anything else for the night when he wakes up. I'm sure no one else would come in at this time anyway." the bee muses with himself. He walks over to the general's desk and begins to search through his belongs in his drawers while humming the Sonic Heroes theme song. "Aww, nothing in here but crap! With all his talk about the Shadow Hearts, I thought he at least had something that would help me get a lead on them." He finds an odd staff made of obsidian with a crystal-like sphere attached to the top. Inside the sphere is a pure white diamond. "Wooow! I bet this is worth loads of rings!! Oh well, I don't care! I'll bet it has nothing to do with the Shadow Hearts anyway." He closes the drawers carefully and sighs. "Damn! Well, it was worth the look anyway…HEY!" He spots a map atop the desk and examines it. "This is the coordinates to the pyramid! I found it, hehe! I'mma dumb ass, I should've looked on top of the desk instead of just inside of it." He takes out a small camera and CLICK! takes a snapshot of the map. "Woohoo, score one for Charmy! Those rebels are done for once I get a hold of them! Ooooh this is gonna be fun! Better than anything I've ever done years ago." He opens the window, then closes it carefully before flying off into the night.

8:36AM, the next morning, the mayors office.

The mayor is talking to Mia via a small screen hidden under the foot of his desk.

"Yes, daddy. I almost have all the materials needed for the summoning but where are we gonna find a powerful magician? Mitzy, I think, already figured us out but doesn't want to do anything." Mia says. The old mayor lets out a chuckle.

"Don't you worry your pretty lil face about it! Your dad always has something good planned out!" replied Mayor Jackson with an evil grin.

"Great!" the black jackal giggles. "The main thing I need to do is find the staff of Zeravi!"

"It's best to do it now. The cursed sun will shine again next week but it will be more fatal than the previous one."

"I'll do my best! Love ya, daddy!"

"Love you too!" The elderly jackal presses a button on his seat which makes the floor cover up the screen. He leaves his office and makes his way or his room. He reaches from underneath the mattresses and pulls out an obsidian staff exactly like the one shown earlier but it contains a pure black onyx crystal inside and has an ominous glow to it. He holds it in his hand and muses at its power which courses through him. "Rest easy, Zarula, you will soon be awakened…PERMANENTLY!"


	34. The Humiliating Defeat

Chapter 34: The Humiliating Defeat

10:55 AM, in the sparring room.

"Ah! Damn!" cries CK who is just thrown hard into his back by Red. He had agreed the previous day to let Red train him and the first thing Red decided to train him on is his endurance.

"You can at least block, that's part of enduring." Red stated as he begins punching CK in the ribs.

"Ugh! Now that I think about it, the more you hit me, the more less it hurts." POW! "Ah!" POW! "AAH!"

"You'll also need more endurance for the special match we have later on today."

"Oh naaaah, I ain't really ready to go back to fighting yet, yo. You ain't shown me how to resist them water attacks and stuff." Red goes into thought for a moment.

"Hmm, you're an ice element. Water shouldn't affect you that much but fire would ruin you."

"Fire! Yeah, teach me how to go against that! Please man!"

"Well, it's only natural that you want to learn to resist flames due to the elemental disadvantage but I think there's more to you than that." CK stoof quiet for a moment. "See?"

"I know I'mma get tight thinking about it but I'mma tell you anyway."

"Go ahead."

"Its how I got here in the first place…There's this new cat, literally, that was brought to West Side city 10 years ago when I was 18-GRR!" CK cut himself off with an angry growl. "Lemme skip da intro crap. There's this cat I got beef with in WSC and he used fire against me. He whoops my ass easily; I only got one good hit on him. I want to get back at his ass when I go back to my home."

"You're against a cat?"

"Hard to believe right? I-" Beep Beep beep! Both of their MWs beep.

"Sorry 'bout cutting in." says Coach Cammy who appears at the arena side. "Just wanted to make sure you two were in the area. I explained my strategy to the rest of the team already. What we're gonna do is let Tammy's team do the engaging them we'll do the finishing once Orenda is weakened enough." she said.

"CK needs more time to train. I want to train him to become more useful, ya know, for the team."

"Oh…" The coyote coach recalled CK's previous match. "That'll be good, take as much time as your need."

"So tell me, Camellia, do you think the strategy you two have will work? I think you're in over head." Sezero says with a grin. He and his team seemed to appear from nowhere. Red, not interested in what's going on, gestures to CK and they continue training. "Did you forget she's blessed?"

"NO I DID **NOT **FORGET! I am PERFECTLY aware of that!" Cammy's outbreak catches the attention of many in the area. Sezero widens his grin.

"Hey, I'm just making sure you don't suffer too much from a humiliating defeat."

"I know what I am doing!"

"Right, well, take it from me, champ. My team is mostly black ranked and only we were the closest to beating Orenda. Orenda's magical blessings can nullify any attack thrown at her and she's also blessed with immortality so you can't win by killing her-"

"GET OUT! I KNOW!"

"HAHAHA! Hey, don't worry 'bout it, I'll be watching. When you're on the floor hurt, just look in my eyes and remember my advice: her strength is as if she is in a super form. Natural abilities won't work against her." BAM! Cammy stomps and the colonel sheepishly ushers his team away. CK caught a quick glimpse at Sherman before they all departed in the elevator and noticed he wore green overalls instead of blue.

"Aww, that's bull!" he protests as Red lands a heavy one on his lip. "Timeout! Yo, that lil blue bastard was up-ranked!"

"What are you gonna do about it?" asked Red intently.

"I'm gonna whoop his-" POW! Red jabs him in the ribs. "WHAT THE FU-!!"

"Controlling your anger is also a part of fighting."

"Oh aight, I'mma take your word for it cause I really wanna do this thang!"

"Patience pays off, trust me, you'll get your chances to strike back!"

"Oh word!? Then let my ass whooping begin!" Red continues bashing the navy blue cat around the arena.

9PM that evening, the Fight Dome.

The crowd screams in excitement as Orenda floats high atop the arena as the two teams enter. The pink champion wears her same gold plated headband but this time with a silky gold cape with the word 'CHAMP' written on it and blue denim shorts with a black sports bra. She grins with confidence as both teams enter the arena.

"AND NOW FOR TONIGHT'S SPECIAL BATTLE! IT'S TEAMS VICTORY AND GAZELLE VERSUS THE CHAMPION HERSELF, THE GREAT ORENDA!!" booms the announcer.

"Remember the plan…" Cammy mumbled to her team.

"This should be a breeze right?" Sonic asked while stretching his legs. Cammy remained silent while exchanging knowing glances with Tammy. Shadow looks up to check the rules and notices the billboard has nothing on it. "Something wrong, buddy? You've been quiet since we've got here."

"It's loud here." commented Shadow.

"No, I don't mean here, I really meant since you've awakened. You barely said anything."

"A lot has been on my mind. I've thought a lot about the embarrassing things I've done, how the future has turned out since the ordeal with the ARK and now here…"

"I know exactly what you mean. It's like we went from heroes to zeroes without changing the things we've done. It kinda feels like we've saved the world for nothing huh?"

"For nothing…"

"The way I see it, the future is up to us! Everyone deserves to be happy. As long as I live, no matter how bad the future turns out, I'll always fight for the happiness of all!"

"The happiness of all huh?"

"Yup, lets say we stop Eggman and free this country, SouthWest. If another maniac tries to rise from the gutters I'll make sure I'm one of those there to stop them for as long as I can fight!" Shadow was taken aback by this.

"Ugh! SONIC! SHADOW!" shrieked Cammy. Turning their attention back to what was going on around them, the other fighters around them are all spread out across the arena floor either dead or unconscious.

"Damn! Look at that!" Orenda grins at the two heroic hedgehogs. Cammy is trapped in a purple aura which seemed to be draining her strength rapidly.

"She wiped out both teams…" grunts Shadow. Orenda does a crushing motion with her right hand and Cammy lets out a loud scream before fainting.

"This should be fun." grins the female champ as she cracks her knuckles. "I get to fight the heroes of the ARK."

"Shadow, cover me!" shouts Sonic as he rushes at Orenda with unnatural speed. He jump kicks at her but then a purple aura surrounds him and stops him in mid-air. She is using telekinesis! Luckily for Sonic, Shadow jumps behind her and delivers a swift Chaos Spear which BOOM! explodes on the hawk's back. When the smoke clears, Orenda suffers from no damage at all. She smiles at Shadow but then Sonic jumps on her back and puts her in a chokehold. "Use Chaos Spear now!" Shadow swiftly moves his hands and multitudes of yellow spears dash from thin air and implant themselves inside the champion but Sonic gets caught too.

"Sonic!" cries Shadow.

"It's no prob, we still win! CHAOS SPHERE!!" BOOM! Sonic explodes as a large sphere of energy expands from him and engulfs the two combatants and kicks up smoke and debris everywhere.

"AAAAHHHH!!" screamed the champion. Shadow grunts in frustration, he still sensed her presence!" "HAHAHAHA!" Orenda's scream in pain turned into hysterical laughter. She beats her wings rapidly to clear the smoke and the view shows Sonic, charred, on the ground while Orenda stands unharmed. "My turn!" Shadow skates at her fast and jumps. "CHAOS EXPLOSION!!" BOOOOOOOOOOM! With little trouble, the champion unleashes a full blue energy sphere inside the whole arena which caught every combatant and sent the conscious ones yelling in pain. Shadow instantly faints from the pressure of the attack from such a close range. Cammy managed to open one eye and spots Sezero watching from the area side.

"Tch tch tch…" was all the coyote coach managed to interpret before fainting, she already knew what he was going to say.


	35. The Plan 2

Chapter 35: The Plan 2

It has been a very long week since Team Victory and Gazelle has suffered from the humiliating loss to the champion, Orenda. Both teams have been the laughing stock of the Fight Domes with every battle they've participated in constantly booed and hissed at no matter how well their performance. Even the fighters that are from other teams don't visit their buildings anymore. In that time, Sonic, Shadow and Flare have all won the green rank (Cammy already explained all the rank rules to them) and were soon ready for the red rank while Red and CK remained training, still with beginner ranks. CK has quickly and easily mastered (to Red's standards) endurance and dodging and is now learning how to channel his anger into energy which he's extremely close to succeeding. Cammy in the meanwhile has also trained herself hard and made it a rule that every fighter on her team trains a half an hour at least twice everyday. Orenda in the meanwhile thinks nothing of the fight and continues her duties as the champion such as training and accepting challenges from other fighters who have earned the right to fight her.

With Mulaza in the desert outside of Korubia, 10:40PM.

2 stealth bombers are soaring high in the night sky over the desert. The pilots are Mulaza and Muleza

"Tomorrow will start our week." said the general as he glanced at the moon in the sky.

"I agree, 't will be Monday." replied Muleza.

"No, I mean another cursed week."

"Oh right." He glances at the moon. "Look how red it is…it's going to be hellish!"

"It was covered on the news already; the citizens will be prepared. I just wish we can end it."

"We're approaching the pyramid." Down below, a large pyramid stood. "See how there is only one pyramid in the middle of the Gohori desert?"

"Yes, I see…" WooOOooOOsh! ZING! As they neared it, a warp seam opens around it and the pyramid disappears into tiny star-like flash. "Interesting. That's evil magic that was used to teleport; something around here triggered that effect."

"So we just find the source of it and then we'll be able get near it, right?"

"I hope so…LOOK OUT!" BOOM! A purple explosion narrowly misses Muleza's plane.

"Damn! What the hell are those!?" Two transparent fighter jets with purple and black aura surrounding them began appearing from the sky, firing black spheres of energy towards them. The area around them becomes pitch black with only the ground being vaguely visible. The two immediately engage.

"Those are Shadow Hearts! I'm guessing they're the defense of the pyramid! Look at the area around us, I've experienced this before."

"Just bad luck to come around here at night, huh?"

"You never seen this in the daytime?"

"No!" BANGBANGBANG! He begins firing at the shadowed plane. "I even came to where the pyramid stood; it's nothing but flat land."

"I see, we'll discuss this later, let's just fight these things until then!" From a distance, another aircraft approaches to where the fighting is but doesn't see anything.

"That's funny." said Charmy, who is the pilot. "The map shows this area but I don't see any pyramid. Now that I think about it, how the hell can anyone build a base in something like a pyramid? Ooooh, this sucks! Guess I'll find a different way to get my lead, I'm sure someone in town knows something." He does a U-turn and heads back to where he came from.

11PM, the workout area.

Cammy's team are all training in different arenas though Cammy herself isn't there with them. CK is in a combative stance with his eyes close and a weak black aura surround him. Red had decided that since anger and rage is his primary strength that he'll teach CK to channel his emotions into a berserker potential and has been seeing good results so far.

"C'mon, raise your anger! Feel your power rising!" shouts Red. CK concentrated very hard which made the black aura grow very strong. "Stop being a bitch, pussy!" CK opens his eyes angrily.

"DON'T CALL ME PUSSY!! GRRAAAA!!" he howled and with a mighty roar, his black aura bursts and enlarges to the size of the whole arena. The force is so strong that the wind of it can be felt through the whole area. Everyone stopped what they were doing and shield themselves from the wind. CK continued to howl as the black aura waves wildly.

"FOCUS IT!" CK concentrates and the aura shrinks to his body size "Well done, you've mastered your berserker potential."

"WOOOT!" CK jumps with joy and his aura vanishes. "Hey, what da hell!?"

"If you lose concentration of that anger, your aura immediately vanishes. Letting it loose like that without focus will tire you out way faster and you might tear your muscles due to the overwhelming flow."

"Oh well, I still did it! Crown me king, yo!" THUD! The navy blue cat collapses on his back. "Damn, I'm maaaad tired, though."

"It's natural since it temporarily makes your body muscles work to the max. A berserker potential can become activated two ways: through thought and through pain. The one activated by the tiger, Jadus, was activated through thought. I activated mines in that fight through pain which is why mines came out black and red instead of pure black like yours."

"I was about to say…it's not like I'm that evil or something. I mean I've killed people before but not much out of evil intent, ya feel me?"

"Yeah. I feel ya. Another thing to keep in mind is that there are different types of potentials: Speed, Power, Elemental, Chaos, Berserker, and Defense. All except the power one takes away some kind of attribute while enhancing another. Your berserker one enhances your physical strength while taking away from your elemental strength while the elemental version takes away from physical strength while enhancing your elemental powers-"

"Hey!" Cammy interrupts. She always seems to sneak up on everyone. She stands at the arena side. "Red, it's become clear to me that you're the most older and experienced of the rest…why not teach the whole team a lil somethin', hm?" Red calmly puts his hands in his overall pockets.

"You're the coach, you should be doing the teaching. You're about my age and from the look of it you know just as much as I do." Cammy instantly fell silent and looks at the floor.

"I'll have to admit." she chuckled half-heartedly. "That one burned but it's true."

"You've been down about the fight last week, get over it! We lost fair and square."

"'We?' You and CK weren't in it! You can say w-"

"I was doing something you should've been doing…rookie." Everyone gasped. Cammy looks at the floor again.

"H-How did you-"

"It's not that hard, honestly. You've done very little for the team but show up at every fight. You can watch the fights all around in Korubia from my knowledge and when you were there you didn't give much advice, you only stayed and hoped they would win."

"…"

"I'm not the one to judge you, however. I'm just stating based on my observance." Cammy sighs.

"I've been at this for many years but it seems that since 10 years ago I've been messing up…I have no idea why…"

"Eggman?"

"He has little influence in Korubia; I believe it has to do with the curse on us…"

"A curse?"

"Don't sweat it. It's not your probably. Listen up, for the next week it's going to be scorching hot so I'll provide you all with umbrellas and taxi-bike service to get around. Fire elements are safe from it. Now ya'll get some rest." She exits swiftly, CK and Red are healed as the magician disperses the barrier.

"She clearly has something on her mind." states Flare who wears a green Chinese-style fighting robe with a matching headband.

"Aww, she'll cheer up." Sonic said, jogging in place. He wears a dark green sweat suit but leaves his top open. "I'm gonna get hit the hay myself, it's been a long day." He gets ready to leave but Red stops him.

"Wait, we're alone. We need to discuss a plan." said Red.

"It'll be more easier to get around now that our rep is demolished." states Shadow. He wears a green sweatpants with no top.

"I agree with that."

"You said to leave the sneaking around to you, right?" Sonic inquired.

"Yes, I can morph into water which can come in handy, however, I'll still need help."

"I can accompany you on that." said Shadow.

"How?" The red and black hedgehog takes out this green chaos emerald.

"I can stop time and warp in it."

"Good, we'll need it."

"Yo yo yo! Whatchall talkin' 'bout!" asks CK as he joins the group.

"This doesn't concern you, go get some sleep."

"No, go home! Nah, seriously, I wanna know, it's the least I can do for my homies."

"Don't worry about it."

"Aight, be that way, betcha I'll find out somehow." CK leaves through the stairwell instead of the elevator.

"Nosy ass…getting back on topic, me and Shadow will try to find the way into the base."

"I'll help too. I've been good at stealth for about 5 years and Eggman has never caught me." said Flare.

"I see, well you can join us then."

"How come I gotta miss all the espionage action?" Sonic complained.

"You're noticeable and world renowned; if anyone spots you and our mission will be failed. Just concentrate on winning fights and increasing our teams popularity that way all attention will be focused no you while we carry out our plans in secrecy." Sonic gives a thumbs up.

"No prob, piece of cake. You're really good at this planning stuff!"

"Years of experience, Sonic, many years."


	36. Knuckles Soul Acquired

Chapter 36: Knuckles Soul Acquired

4:15AM very same night. Area D-1.

Mia and the mayor are hovering high over the Grand Dome flying on black angel-like wings that glow with black energy. They gaze gleefully at the red moon in the sky.

"Hmhmhm!" Mia mused. "The powers of Zarula are very rewarding."

"Yes, my daughter." said Mayor Jackson. "It can sense our loyalty and our goals and efforts. It grants wishes to anyone who wishes it to rule again then rewards them upon its awakening." Mia glances down on the semi-empty streets below. "Don't fret, they can't see us." The elderly jackal lifts his staff towards the red moon and a purple aura surrounds him and the staff. After a brief moment the aura stops. "That's as much as we can do today…"

"Damn it…we need the other staff so we can finish it completely!"

"Yes, but it's best not to go looking around for it. Mulaza already suspects you and there's no need risking anything while everything is going so well. Charging the staff every red moon will still help it reach its potential all the same. You'll be glad to know that on the next red moon we won't need the staff of Zeravi."

"We won't!?" Mia's face beams with happiness.

"No, however it is the only thing that can stand in our way as it is just as powerful."

"Should we find it and destroy it?"

"No, I think it'll come to us. Besides, dear Mia, I have a little trump card under my sleeve for it."

"Yay!"

"Come, let us continue on as normal. We have to prepared for the cursed weather tomorrow." A purple seam opens on the Grand Dome and the mayor and Mia flies through it. On the streets below, the velvet cat, Vicious, that escorted CK to Korubia is seen walking the streets alone, with two pistols raised, patrolling the area.

"_The attacks mostly happened at night according to my information. I have a right to suspect anyone that I see out here since these streets are dead at night and it's cold as hell out here." _he thinks to himself. He stands still and carefully examines his surroundings. _"Suddenly this place seems more dreadful…or maybe it's the moon." _Suddenly, the purple cat felt a presence behind him and turns back and BANG! fires a quick shot from one of his weapons only to hit nothing and hear the shot echo into the quiet darkness. "My senses never fail me-!" ZZZZT!! "UUUGH!" Someone touches Vicious on his shoulder and electrocutes him. "Ah! Ah!" Vicious looks up at his assailant only to get dust kicked into his face. "Ugh!"

"Shut up!" demanded his attacker as he pushes the feline to his stomach and puts a pistol to the back of his head. "Look up again and I'll kill you! Now, what are you doing out here at night?"

"Investigation…the Shadow Hearts…"

"Shadow Hearts huh? Well then, you're volunteering to help me out then because if you're not, I'm going to have to kill you."

"…" The assailant puts something into Vicious' pocket.

"Anything you learn you'll call me at this number and tell me what you know. I suggest you start investigating area B since that's where all of the disappearances occurred."

"D-Disappearances? These bandits don't kidnap I hear…"

"Bandits? What are you talking about!? It seems we aren't on the same page but that doesn't matter, you'll still tell me everything you learn! Don't tell anyone about this, not even Eggman or you'll be living the rest of your days in a respirator. I'll keep in touch!" The figure leaps into the darkness of the night. Vicious grunts as he rubbed the dust out of his eyes and stand up on his feet. He picks up his weapons and withdraws them.

"_Guess I ain't got much of a choice. I'll go by what he says and search area B tomorrow." _

Meanwhile, back with Mulaza and his son, the last of the shadow jets have been destroyed and the area returns to normal. Both safely lands their planes and hop out.

"Damn, what was that all about?" asked Muleza.

"Those things are responsible for kidnapping the fighters." said Mulaza as he lights a cigar.

"What do we do about them?"

"Nothing for now, but I'm sure if we figure out how to activate the staff of Zeravi, we can eliminate these things and the evil magic around that pyramid. I'm sure that pyramid holds the answers for exposing Mia."

"I'll still keep an eye on her, father. She doesn't suspect anything of me."

"I'll leave you to it since I have a lot of business to handle this week."

"Will do."

A few minutes later, two spheres of spiritual light (one red, one orange) descends from the sky and launches down to earth at amazing speed. It descends into area B and into the building where the rebels sleep. Inside, Sonic is sleeping peacefully in his bed as the two spheres of light descend in from the ceiling and enter Sonic's body. In Sonic's dream he's floating in mid-air above the above Angel Island while Knuckles sleeps besides the Master Emerald.

"Heh!" Sonic chuckled. "Sleeps around it all day and goes through hell to get it back when it's stolen." Silver flies through the blue hedgehog and lands on the island. "Wha-?" Sonic watches the whole fight in horror as Knuckles is beaten and the island destroyed. Suddenly, the area whites out and Knuckles and Tikal appears. "Hey Knuckles, glad you're OK." Knuckles twists his face. "What's wrong?"

"That was not a dream sequence unfortunately." said Tikal.

"What!?"

"That damn punk got lucky!" growled Knuckles.

"It happened nearly two weeks ago." said Tikal.

"Damn it, if I get my hands on him I'LL-!"

"Calm yourself, Sonic. There are bigger things ahead."

"Huh? Like what?"

"Eggman isn't planning on keeping his rule as it is."

"Yeah, he's bent on world domination, everyone knows that. Also, he plans on putting energy into himself right?"

"Yes, you were well informed. We're here to give you a new ability."

"Ooh really? You mean like an upgraded light speed dash or a super jump? No thanks, I can manage."

"Well, he's fine, guess our work here is done." said Knuckles as he turns his back to him.

"Don't be so hasty Knuckles. Sonic please, I sense there is a time when you'll need this ability and soon." Sonic sits in thought for a moment. "What harm can it do?"

"Well, I guess you're right. What is this ability anyway?"

"You're looking at it!" shouts Knuckles. Sonic looks at the red echidna, dumfounded.

"Let me explain." Tikal began. "Knuckles is granted a chance for revival if he can borrow a powerful host body for a while."

"Umm… come again?" said Sonic, still confused

"I'm going to be a part of you you idiot!" Knuckles growls as he turns himself back toward Sonic.

"WHA-!?" Sonic jumps back in shock. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Hey, I may be dead but I still got an emerald to protect!"

"That's your problem, Knux."

"No." said Knuckles as he takes out a ball of light. "It's OUR problem!" He smashes the ball of light against Sonic's face causing the blue hedgehog to faint.


	37. Heat and Fire

Chapter 37: Heat and Fire

It is 10am and above the skies in Korubia the sun is glowing a vicious dark red. The heat is horrendous so not many people are on the streets and the few that are on the streets have shielded themselves with umbrellas. Inside the rebel's building, Cammy is knocking on everyone's doors while shouting.

"OK EVERYONE, UP AN AT 'EM! OUR WARM UP SESSIONS START IN 5 MINUTES IN THE WORKOUT ROOM! LETS GOOOO!!" yells the young coyote coach as she knocks on everyone's doors. "PICK UP THE UMBRELLAS I LEFT ON THE DOORS AS YOU LEAVE!" She hurries down the stairs. Minutes later, all the fighters end up in the workout room but only the rebels are a bit shocked to see Cammy. She is now a purple coyote with orange eyes and blue hair. "Ok! Everyone drop and give me push-ups for half an hour then we head to the domes!" Everyone did as told.

Meanwhile, in the Grand Dome, N is resting peacefully in the maid's bedroom when someone knocks on the door. Mia enters with a smile on her face.

"Mornin' everyone!" she says happily. "Tomorrow we have very important visitors coming so we want everything nice and squeaky clean today, OK? Especially the mayor's office. Let's get to work people!" The black jackal leaves the room but ends up slamming the door in the process.

"_Important visitors?" _N ponders sleepily.

Meanwhile, at the military base Mulaza is in the middle of a conversation which Eggman via screen phone.

"Yes, the visitors will arrive tomorrow, keep the Fight Domes fired up for them will you?" said Eggman heartily to the general.

"I'll try my best, sir." the general replied. _"Somehow I don't like the sound of this."_

Back with the rebels, it is now 10:30AM. Cammy blows her whistle to signal everyone to stop working.

"Alright, good job most, some of you guys sucked but we'll deal with that later!" said the now purple coyote as she drank a bit from her bottle of water. "Let's head on over to the domes! Up, up, UP!" Everyone gets up and follows the coach. Sonic began to speak to Red but he hushed him.

"I know what you're about to say, we're all wondering the same thing." said Red. "It has something to do with the curse in this state."

"A curse!?" shouts Sonic catching the attention of a few fighters. Red covers Sonic's mouth.

"Shut it, it's none of our concern." Red whispered harshly as Sonic released himself from Red's grip.

"Well I dunno about you, but I can't just let these people suffer!"

"We have our priorities, we should stick with them."

"I'll find my own way of dealing with it! Despite what the people said back in Station Square I sense something is wrong with them and something is wrong with this country. I plan on helping everyone out!" Red thought for a moment then chuckled.

"Hmm, well I doubt I can stop you on that. I ask that you at least keep our priorities in mind while you do so. Where do you start? by asking the coach why she seems so inverted all of a sudden? It doesn't seem like something that can be discussed openly."

"Y'know, I'll cross that bridge when I get there!"

"Yo coach!" shouts CK. "Why you all inverted all of a sud-AH!" Red punches CK in the stomach.

"Your ears are too sharp for your own damn good! I'm glad she didn't hear you!" growled Red to the dark blue cat.

"Ah, damn, take a joke man!" When everyone reached outside there was a rush of scorching heat and being in the sun was unbearable so everyone quickly opened there umbrellas. "Hey! It's like 1,000 degrees out here!" Camels riding on taxi colored hover bikes arrive to take the group to the domes.

It is 11:15AM when the rebels reach the dome and there is a match in progress. Sezero's Vilé versus a purple female gorilla from Lieutenant Slash's Team Strength. Vilé appeared a bit worn out and damaged but isn't about to let up. The young wolf dashes towards his enormous opponent only to get smashed towards the other side of the arena by large fist. The gorilla smiles but is shocked when Vilé smashes into pieces of ice upon hitting the barrier.

"ICE CLAW!!" shouts a voice under the gorilla. She looks down and SWOOSH! Vilé jumps up with a slash to her face, instantly freezing her entire head then he follows with a swift roundhouse kick shattering her head completely. The win is announced and everyone is restored. Vilé shakes hands with his opponent and they walk off. The two coaches nods to each other and leave. Sezero glances at Cammy with a smirk but doesn't fully acknowledge her.

"_He used an ice clone as a distraction." _thought Red to himself.

"The coaches shared a friendly nod, they never did that with our coach." Shadow mumbled.

"I agree. I doubt it's due to ours being more of a rookie._ I guess this curse did more to her than I thought." _A mean-looking very muscular bison coach enters with his team.

"Hmph, this should be a piece of cake." said Cammy. "You there, pink!" She points to Flare.

"I'm not pink, I'm just a light red color." Flare said defensively.

"Yeah, whatever, go in an show your stuff!" Flare hops into the arena.

"I'm ready!"

"Heheheh!" laughed the bison coach as he takes out a device that fits onto his temple and a red piece extracts from it. "A fire and lava element huh? Sheena, this is all you!" BOOM! An explosion occurred a few feet in front of Flare and when the smoke clears a light red female desert fox is standing in front of her; she wears the exact same green fighter style robe Flare is wearing and has the letter C on her headband. Flare gets into a combative stance as the mages surrounds the arena with a soothing sapphire blue barrier different from any she has seen so far.

"Flare, that's a water barrier!" Red warned the light red hedgehog. She returned a knowing nod as she glanced at the rule board which read 'Freestyle'.

"Flare, huh? I'm Sheena, nice to meet you." the desert fox said with a friendly smile as she extends her hand. Flare loosens up and shakes her hand with a friendly grin. GONG! The battle bell rings and the desert fox flings Flare over her shoulder and thrusts Flare's body across the arena. Flare however, lands on her feet.

"That was pretty cheap!" growled Flare. The fox lets out a light-hearted giggle.

"Well when the bell rings, the fight is supposed to start isn't it?"

"Dark Blade!" Flare shouts as she extend her right arm away from her body. A black wind swirls around it until it takes the form of a crescent then Flare throws it at her opponent who expertly dodges and lands behind her. Flare quickly ducks, narrowly dodging a heavy hay-maker and retaliates with an uppercut to Sheena's jaw. Flare runs at her opponent to continue her attack but suddenly BOOM! Sheen explodes and sends Flare reeling towards the other end of the arena. Flare, thinking quickly, grasps the ground to lose momentum and to keep from touching the barrier because to a fire element; water is like acid or lava but without incineration or disintegration. Flare glares at her opponent and breathes in deeply before exhaling a large ball of lava towards her. Sheena dodges but BOOM! The lava ball explodes and send her flying across the arena. She quickly gets on her feet fast enough to jump over Flare who comes at her with a spin dash. Flare uncurls and begins chucking fireballs. WOOSH! Sheena retaliates by releasing a wind current in Flares direction which dispels all the fireballs.

"Wind beats fire!" shouts Red. Flare grunts in frustration as the current begins weakening her and pushing her towards the barrier.

"_There must be a way I can turn this around." _Flare thinks to herself. She manages to reduce her traction by putting her weight down but the wind is still strong enough to push her. As she inched closers to the barrier she finally gets an idea. She builds up lava within herself and hurls lava on the floor.

"Eww!" is the audience's reaction but both teams watch intensively. Flare quickly crouches into a spin dash but releases fire from her quills. This makes the wind current lift her up.

"Fire Drive!" called Flare as she bursts into a ball of fire.

"WOOT! YOU GO GIRL! Though vomiting was nasty but it's all good" shouts CK.

"What!?" shrieks Sheena in disbelief. Flare's body levitates upwards and the heat around it pushes against the wind current and pulls Flare towards Sheen with extreme speed. BOOM! Sheena quickly explodes herself hoping to redirect Flare's attack but to no avail; she only powered it up and BAM! Flare collides head-on with the fox and sends her spinning wildly to the barrier wall on the other side of the arena. SPLASH! "AAAAH!" Sheena screams in agony before landing back on the arena floor. Her body lays motionless with steam rising from it.

"You used my move. Nice work, kiddo." Cammy compliments.

"Is it…over?" Flare panted aloud.

"Ha! I doubt that! Team Crushers doesn't fall so easily."

"1...2...3...4..." the announcer began to count. "Oh…" Sheena's tail wagged back and forth. "Looks like this match isn't over yet folks.

"What are you waiting for!?" Cammy shouts. "Finish her off!" Flare nods and attempts to move but can't lift her feet. She looks down and sees a small tornado engulfing her feet. Flare turns her attention back to Sheena but she's gone!

"Looking for me!?" asked Sheena who is now behind Flare.

"How did you-?" Flare began.

"TWISTER CRUSH!" WHOOSH! Sheena raises both arms high in the air and the tornado responds by enlarging itself to Flare's body size and lifts her up and BAM! BAM! BAM! begins bouncing around the arena floor while tearing up the ground with Sheena's arm movements.

"Aww damn!" CK groaned. "She gettin' owned!"

"Not yet!" Sonic said with a grin. "Look!" CK looks at Sheena who has trouble controlling her own attack.

"Smart. She's letting off flames to take control of the tornado." said Red. The tornado suddenly turns around and heads towards Sheena.

"Oh hell no!" cried Sheena as she blocked with both arm across her face. BOOM! Flare collides and debris is kicked up blocking everyone's view. Flare is crouched on the ground coughing from the dust. "I'm getting really sick of you using heat!"

"Heh, I knew that wouldn't knock you out. Did you at least hit the shield?" Flare asked.

"Almost!" WOOSH! Sheena uses a wind current to clear the dust. She is still blocking but is inches away from touching the barrier. "If you haven't figured it out I'm also a fire element! That's why you didn't do much damage."

"Oh? Your wounds tell a different story."

"Indeed." Sheena removes the top of her robe. "Let me show you the scary side of a flame. RAARGH!" WHOOSH! Sheena's body bursts into flames and the arena begins to get hazy with heat. Flare dashes at the fox but she lets out a high-pressured wind blast to keep the light red hedgehog at bay. Flare is hit with enough power to get sent flying backwards and hit the opposing barrier wall while screaming in agony as she gets flushed with water and bounced back to the ground.

"Damn! It burns a helluva lot more than I thought…" Flare looks up and gasps. The arena is now filled with fire and there are many Sheenas surrounding her.

"Hahaha! Good luck trying to find the real one, it's rare that anyone ever figured out my Heat Illusion technique!"

"What's she going on about? I don't see any illusions, in fact, I don't even see her..." said Sonic.

"Only the target can see the illusions." said Cammy with a grunt. Flare punches one of the Sheena clones but it vanishes into flames. Another comes from behind her and grabs her but she counters and throws that one over her shoulder. Wave after wave of clones come for her but all of them are easily destroyed. Flare pants heavily but is relieved that only one remains.

"Haaa…haa…now it's you and me…haa…" Flare pants.

"Are you sure? Come, I'll let you get a free hit!"

"Alright! DARK BLADE!" The shadowy attack slashes through the last remaining Sheena but that also disappears into flames. "Huh!?"

"Heheheh!" More clones appeared from nowhere and began attacking Flare. "I'll give you a funny little tip: we're ALL real!"

"…" Flare grunts angrily while fighting off the clones wearily with her last bit of strength.

"Well, let me end this by using the most powerful fire attack on the planet: the NOVA DESTROYER!"

"Damn…" Red mumbles. "This won't end well…"


	38. Heat and Fire Part 2

Chapter 38: Heat and Fire (Part 2)

Flare dodges a kick from an incoming clone and counters with a right hook but that too is a clone. She backs up only to get grabbed from behind. As she struggled to break free, two clones run up to her and punch her hard in the stomach knocking the wind out of her. Flare stops struggling and gasps for air. THUD! THUMP!THUMP!THUMP!

"OOF! OOF!" cried Flare as she is getting repeatedly pounded on the softest part of her stomach. She can feel her consciousness and strength beginning to leave her as the assault continued.

"I have to thank you since you're losing this match. I will only have 2 more wins 'til the red rank." said Sheena. "Maybe you'll pass out long enough before I can use the Nova Destroyer?"

"C'mon kid! You're just gonna give up like that!?" shouts Cammy. Flare tries to regain her strength but loses it with each hit she suffers from. Flare glances around, she can sense large amount of energy amounting somewhere but can't see where. The clones then decide to jump with Flare and spins around with her in the air then pile drives her into the ground kicking up debris. THUD!

"Man, this ain't good!" cries Sonic. He then gets an idea. "Coach, didn't you say green ranks can receive defensive support from one teammate?"

"That's right! I was so focused on the match that I forgot about that."

"Leave it to me." said Red as he approached the arena side. He raised his hand up over Flare's and a rain cloud appears and start raining on her. The light red hedgehog grunts in pain.

"Red…" Flare moans. "My weakness…

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Look around you." Flare barely manages to open one eye then it became clear to her. Though she still sees the clones, she can spot their heat signature. The ones surrounds her are closing in but don't have much heat in them while there is someone on the far opposite of the arena just standing with their hands in the air. Flare looks up and sees and oversized heat signature is given off. The rain over her body stops.

"_I understand now… Attacking these clones are a waste of time since the real one is nowhere near them. If I take out all these clones she'll just generate more. Still, they all hit like they're the real thing." _After she catches her breath, she stands up to wipe the blood from her head then glances up to see if she can spot what she saw through the heat; nothing is there. "Alright, let's try this again. I'll take you all on at once!"

"Heh heh, let's see!" says all the Sheena clones at once and rush to her at the same time.

"Haaa!" Flare jump and spins hard, slashing all the clones and taking them out at once. Once she lands, she keeps her momentum going and rolls at the spots where she remembered the real Sheena was standing. She leaps at the spot and pounds something against the barrier and water flushes all over it.

"UUUUUGGGGH!!" For an instant, Flare can see Sheena's image but then it disappeared.

"I don't understand…" She looks around quickly but still sees no sign of her opponent. THUD! She is knocked across the face and sent falling onto her rear. On the floor she sees dripping water heading in her direction and then feels another knock on her face which sends her sliding. This time, she flips to her feet and looks towards the ground again. _"The D.R. cells in me are telling me that invisible opponents usually get careless with their attacking and repeat their methods often. Let's see if the third time's a charm."_ The water spot approaches again but this time she retaliates with a roundhouse kick, however, her leg is caught. Flare grunts and quickly flings her body and kicks with her free leg. Her foot barely nicks something and she falls to the ground. She feels a hand grasp her neck and she is lifted up.

"Explosive Palm!" Flare quickly uses every ounce of strength she has to kick Sheena away with both feet before the attack is unleashed. "Ugh! Grr. Multiple Exploding Palms! Ha! Ha! Ha!" Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Flare can see multiple small explosions moving in a left-right pattern as they head towards her.

"_Ha! She's getting tired and desperate! She must be just as tired as I am." _Flare wearily hops around the arena, dodging the multiple explosions. Suddenly, she sidesteps sharply.

"Dark Blade!!" She throws the attack near the explosions. SLISH! Blood gushes out from the spot she hits and gushes around. "_GOT HER!! Once more! _HEAT BURN!!" She aims the lava shots at the area where there is blood but they only end up fizzing out on the other side of the arena.

"WIND SPHERE!!" A gray sphere of wind forms and thrusts itself at Flare. Flare tries to move but notices the small tornado that surrounds her feet, keeping her grounded.

"Damn!" In a desperate attempt to defend herself, Flare punches the attack as soon as it neared with all her might. BOOM! The attack explodes, kicking up dust that obscures the view.

"Hm? Silver can use that attack too." Red comments.

"This is it!" growls Cammy. Both teams watch intensely.

"C'mon, Flare!" Sonic cheers.

"Man, this stuff is intense!" cries CK while doing push-ups. The smoke clears and both contestants, Sheena who is now visible, are standing but Flare has her fist planted in Sheena's face. The ground under the two has become a crater. Sheena falls back and lands on the ground with a hard thud. Flare smirks but then she also falls flat on her back. The announcer begins to count.

"_Damn it, I rushed straight into it!" _Sheena thinks to herself. _"If I can get up, I'll win! But I can't feel anything! I can't even speak! If she hadn't hit me in the face, I'd be able to open my eyes and win. Damn!"_

"This match is declared a DRAW!" shouts the announcer. The crowd cheers. As Flare approaches the dugout, Shadow approaches her.

"Observing the other team is also part of a strategy." he tells her. "There is a chameleon on that team."

"What do you mean?" Flare asked.

"I see where he's going with this." Red intervenes. "The Heat Illusion technique doesn't make its user disappear like that. She used that technique to distract you while she hid and charged up her attack. That chameleon was transferring her ability to the fox somehow. What I don't understand is, if you're anything like my brother, why she would think a Nova Destroyer attack would finish you off. It would've weakened you greatly at most. The Wind Sphere is more effective since it's your element weakness." Flare looks at Red with understanding.

"Speaking of your brother, there are some things I want to know to know. It will help me greatly here and I'm sure you're the person who can tell me."

"Hm?" Red looks at Flare curiously.

(At the Grand Dome)

Mayor Jackson puts out his cigar as he finished watching the match on his flat screen TV.

"That girl… She's one of the ones sent here by the Eggman, correct?" he asked a nearby aide.

"Yes." the aide replies.

"Hrm. Not too shabby. Ya know, things became interesting around here when they added these fight arenas here. That's why I love being the mayor here. It makes me feel young. It's like I can feed of the energy from the fighters here. I might just join in a match myself!"

"I wouldn't advise it, sir."

"Why? Is it because I'm old?"

"I didn't say that."

"But that's your reason!"

"No I-"

"Well let me tell you something! The more older, the more experienced we are! I might trampled these young naïve fighters in a few seconds than anyone their age can do in a lifetime!"

"…"

"Fetch me some coffee!"

"Yes, sir." The aide hurries out.

"Thinks I'm too old, humph!" The mayor watches the TV as the next fight begins_. _"All the energy given off by these fighters will prove useful for Zarula's awakening. I'll have to see if there's a way I can get them all to channel it at once." N is near the mayor's partially opened door and was listening to him talk to himself. To avoid suspicion, she knocks on the door. "Oh! Yes?"

"May I clean in here too?" N asked.

"No, that won't be necessary at the moment, thank you. Please shut the door on your way out. N does as told and continues sweeping the halls.

"_I wonder what he was going on about…?"_


	39. The Two Shadow Hearts

Chapter 39: The Two Shadow Hearts

Meanwhile, in Area B-1, Vicious is moving from building to building in the trying to find information on the Shadow Hearts. So far, all the information given to him has nothing to do with what he is searching for. The Shadow Hearts he was originally sent to investigate were supposed to be bandits; however, he seemed to get different information.

"You mean them shadow ghost things?" one fighter asked. "One tried to get me too but I laid the law on him. Ha!"

"One of those damn devils got my friend! I think they're here because of someone with a shadow element!" said another fighter.

"I think it's something to do with this curse." said another. Vicious exits the building while thinking about all he's heard. He activates his wrist comm.

"What is it, Vicious? I'm very busy! Be brief." said Eggman.

"I'm investigating the Shadow Hearts like you asked." said Vicious.

"How's that going?"

"It ain't going like it should. The Shadow Hearts you told me to investigate are bandits. The ones everyone seemed to know about are supposedly ghosts of some kind."

"Ghosts? Something sounds fishy and I don't appreciate being lied to by my reporter. I want you to look into things and report to me when the matter is fully dealt with. I'll be sending a more trustworthy agent to help you investigate. Not that I don't trust you, you know that."

"Yeah, we homies a'ight."

"It's always good to have multiple sources. Someone like you should know that."

"Yeah, you right."

"I don't want to hear anything until this matter is solved."

"A'ight, talk to you whenever." He closes his wrist comm. "Son of a bitch, he must think I'mma real dumb ass." He dials the mysterious man's number on his cell phone.

"What is it?" the man asks.

"Yo man, there supposed to be two Shadow Heart or something?"

"I don't know who you are or what you're talking about. Call me at midnight." The man hangs up abruptly.

"Ain't this a bitch? How the hell am I supposed to know what to search for?"

It is 7PM at the Death Egg. Eggman has assembled D.R. and the other executives.

"Alright, gentlemen-" Eggman begins.

"And Lady!" growls Amy.

"Yes, yes! Having you guys around doing nothing is becoming a real danger to this space station since there's no training room here and the massive amount of chaos energy you guys give off is doing serious damage to some equipment. It wouldn't be much trouble if I found out how to limit the chaos energy, let alone use it to keep you guys under permanent control."

"But sir, didn't you go with Tails to figure that out?" D.R. asks.

"I was going to ask but then I was rudely interrupt." Eggman says, glaring at Amy. "When I tried questioning him later, he was too scared to remember anything. Out of fury and bad judgment I threw him into the conversion chamber and now he really doesn't know. Getting back on the subject, the rebels are becoming stronger and becoming a huge threat, . I suspect some have even organized into groups. I have a little plan for them to ensure ultimate obedience. It involves using some old methods but the new trick is I have you guys. I want you guys to cripple their organizations, show them that the Eggman Empire is not to be underestimated. D.R., you go with Tails while Silver goes with Amy."

"Aww, how come I don't get the boobies!?"

"We need focus! I can't have any screw-ups."

"Alright."

"We'll it 'em hard!" shouts Silver.

"We'll ass rape 'em!" Amy smacks D.R. hard enough to send him reeling towards the back of the room, destroying more equipment in the process. "Ow!"

"Only YOU would think to say that!" growls Amy.

"See this is exactly what I mean!" cries Eggman. "Now go, you'll all be instantly teleported to where I want you to go." They all rush out at once while Merciless enters.

"All the transporters are set." Merciless says.

"Good. I'm still preparing for the second stage. I've already sent Silver and the rest out."

"I'll wait until I'm needed." Merciless turns to leave but Eggman stops her.

"Oh, it won't be long. I've received intelligence that Oceanora plans on launching a full scale assault on Robotnik Land." Merciless opens her eyes in horror. "They're expected to hit us two days from now. You might want to get plenty of rest, my dear."

"W-why would we be attacked?"

"Heh heh, they think they're saving the freedom of the people. The idiots are responding to a treaty made by the president about 11 years ago. If one country is captured, the others will intervene to help."

"But why now? Why after all this time?"

"I blocked all trade routes and any form of information that can be reached. Everything sent to this country was intercepted and sent back. I sealed everything tightly. Apparently, not tightly enough." Merciless stand speechless. "Maybe you have some idea how we were leaked?" Merciless' heart skips a beat.

"No sir. I don't know."

"Hmm, you wouldn't by any chance know of a Mikhail Whitefox would you?" Merciless stood frozen as if her entrails became ice cold.

"N-n-no. That name means nothing to me."

"Heh, you're such a liar. I'm on to you, Merciless. Be careful. When they come it'll only be you, me and Metal Sonic. You may go now." Merciless slowly exits.

Back in Korubia, it is now midnight and Vicious is hopping from building to building. ZZT! BOOM! A lightning bolt suddenly leaps from the sky and strikes him downwards.

"Augh!" shouts the green cat as he falls flat on his stomach.

"Didn't I tell you not to talk to the Eggman!?" growls the figure who suddenly appears over him. "I should take your life right now!"

"I had to talk to him eventually! Relax, he don't wanna hear from me anymore anyway!"

"For your sake, you better be right. What did you find out?"

"Well for one, there are two Shadow Heart. The ghosts you told me about and bandits that use that name. I've been told the ghosts only appear at night and some thinks it got something to do with shadow elements."

"I can't do anything with info like that. Call me when you actually see one. Call only at night." The man disappears as quickly as he had came. Vicious stands up weakly and dials on his cell.

"_He ain't gonna keep playin' me like a bitch. _Yo, D. I'mma need your help with something out here. I'll arrange for a helicopter to pick you up."


	40. The Visitors

Chapter 40: The Visitors

The next day in area E-3, 12:30PM. Razine is waiting at the state gates with a platoon of soldiers.

"Urgh! They were supposed to be here three hours ago!" cries the yellow desert fox. "Dr. Eggman said they'd be here by 9:40AM the latest!" A black military helicopter approaches from afar. "Finally." However, instead of the helicopter lowering itself to their position, two figures jump out from its side doors. "Ah!" Boof! The figures land elegantly on the barren ground, creating a small shockwave the freezes the ground in its wake. Razine twists his lips, unimpressed. "You're late, come on already and stop showing off!"

A half an hour later, in the mayor's office. Sezero an the mayor are discussing something as Mia and Vell sit idle on a nearby chairs.

"All we can do is investigate the matter for now, colonel. There's nothing else I can suggest." said the mayor. Razine knocks at the door. "Come in. Ah--Sezero, we'll discuss this some other time. Please excuse me, I have guests."

"Right, let's go Vell." said Sezero as he stands to leave. Behind Razine stands a tall male dirty white polar bear, standing nearly 7 feet tall. His body is an enormous muscular build but also partially machine; specifically the left leg and his right arm. The right arm is slowly exhausting white smoke which anyone would assume to be nitrogen. The right side of his head is robotic while the left is normal with a glaring cobalt eye. With each step, the ground slightly shakes and metal clangs are heard. Sezero and Vell walk by the enormous bear and both exchange a brief glance with the elderly bear as they pass.

"How are ya, General Ice? That is the codename the doctor gave you right?"

"It is." said the polar bear in a deep robotic tone.

"Just double checking. I'm sorry to bring you all the way from Oceanora, let alone during these troubled times in this region."

"It is our duty to Dr. Eggman. Our regions depend on it."

"Yes, yes. Well, he sent for you because as you know, he's getting ready for a war against the rebels in your state and meanwhile I'm trying to get rid of the ones I have here but that's nearly impossible because my own military are also getting ready to assist the Eggman. He also mentioned that it was essential that you and your lieutenant don't participate in that war but the details are vague. You're here for two reason: To investigate the Shadow Hearts with a feline named Vicious Scratchel and to capture or destroy this blue hedgehog." The mayor holds up a picture of a blue hedgehog. Ice scans the photo. "Who is that specifically, I'm not sure and I really don't care. All I know is Eggman wants him dead and I can't really deal with it myself because of all this nonsense about the Shadow Hearts. You and your lieutenant are called here because you both possess a cloaking device in your systems correct?"

"That is correct."

"Good, I need you to deal with both of these problems as quietly as possible. I can't keep having more nonsense piled on me-- where is your lieutenant anyway?"

"Lieutenant Ghost reporting, sir." said a robotic voice as he fades into view. The figure is a white snow wolf with a metal band across his throw which allows speech. This left side of his torso and the top part of his head are completely robotic with blue eyes that seem to always look far away even when focused. He is short enough to sit on the broad shoulders of General Ice.

"Ghost huh? I see why. It was pretty spooky how you just came into view like that. I expect you both to do your best as fellow commanders of the EE. Razine, show them around Korubia and where they'll be staying. It's not all business you know."

"Yes sir." says Razine. N, who is secretly eavesdropping, immediately returns to working as Razine and the others pass by.

"_Those can't be…androids…?"_ N ponders to herself.

Two hours later, in area E-2. Mulaza is supervising the organization of aerial troops. Sezero and Vell ride up to him in a military jeep.

"Did they arrive?" asked the general.

"I only saw General Ice, not Lieutenant Ghost. Ice looks like a cyborg or something. Most of his body is made of metal. " Sezero replied.

"Dr. Eggman is working on something big. He thinks I'm a fool. General Ice and his lieutenant are guinea pigs for his project. They're equipped with light-bending mechanisms that work with freezing nitrogen to allow invisibility at will. Now he needs me after all these years to help him fight a war in their country."

"It does sound funny when you think about it but don't worry. As long as you do as he says, all should be good. Cheer up!"

"…All we can do is keep strengthening our weapons and manpower."

"Look, me and lieutenant Slash will keep an eye on things here. We'll see you off when you're ready to go." Sezero and Vell salute the general and drive off.

Back with the rebels, 9:30PM.

"Flame Line!" shouts Flare with all her might. WOOSH! She then blows a straight lines of fire, hitting the barrier wall in front of her. The ground is searing with flames and heat in its wake.

"I guess you really are a master. You've mastered all the fire and lava attacks that are counterparts of Dark Red's water and ice attacks." Red compliments. "However, only your body has mastered them. The real mastery is in how you use them. Remember, unlike Dark Red, your chaos energy is negative so you must focus on pulling it inwards than pushing it outward before releasing it."

"I understand." Flare had asked Red, after her match with Sheena, to teach her the moves that D.R. has since she is a clone of him. In a very short time, Flare has achieved outstanding results. Sonic and Shadow are sparring in a different arena. After an airborne struggle Sonic gets knocked down.

"Geez, looks like you still got it." said Sonic with a chuckle.

"Hmph. You're holding back. I sense a lot of power from you that you're not using. I'm calling it a night." Shadow mumbled.

"Shadow." Red called to him before he entered his room. "It's time." Shadow nods in agreement.


	41. A Battle in the Night

Chapter 41: A Battle in the Night

It is midnight when Shadow and Red exits the buildings via Red's water transformation ability through the air ducts.

"Ugh. The weather…" grunts Shadow. The night air is brisk and far below freezing and no moon is in the sky.

"It seems cold enough to put someone into hypothermia; let's do this quickly." said Red. They dash through the dark, empty town as quietly as possible. Red looks at his map watch. "We're heading east, that's where area E is. We'll need your time ability-"

"Chaos Control."

"-to maneuver safely inside." About 20 minutes later, they arrive in Area E-1. The area is surrounded by a barb-wired fence. Red picks up a nearby stone and chucks it at the gates. ZZT! The stone becomes electrified before falling to the ground in a crisp. "Just as I thought. I'll bet they got traps laid under and over the fence too."

"Then it's my turn. Chaos Control!" Shadow holds up the green emerald which flashes brightly and the time around him and Red comes to a halt. They both leap powerfully over the fence and Shadow returns time to normal once they land. The dust kicked up from their landing reveals infrared lasers above the fence.

"Just as I suspected." The area they are in is filled with tanks, jeeps and ground transportation vehicles as far as the eye can see. There are very little guards in sight. Red checks his map watch. "We'll have to head about 50 miles south from here to area E-3. It seems each section is divided by 25 square miles each."

"No problem, with Chaos Control, it'll be a cakewalk. CHAOS CONTROL!" Both hedgehogs vanish in a green flash and move at light speeds through the base. To them they seems to be moving normally but from a third person point of view it seems they're moving instantaneously. The patrolling guards only feel a slight wind when they pass. Upon arriving in area E-2, the time effect is suddenly cancelled out. "Urgh!"

"Shadow, what's wrong? Urgh!" A weird feeling overcomes the two hedgehogs. "Something…something is blocking my chaos energy…" The weird feeling suddenly stops. Looking around, Red notices fighter planes and stealth bombers lined up.

"These planes are getting ready for a fight. It's none of our concern right now. Can you use another chaos control?" Shadow clutches the green chaos emerald but to his dismay, the color of it turned to dark grey.

"It's…out of energy…? That can't be, chaos emeralds are full of unlimited power."

"Whatever happened to us must've drained the chaos emerald's power." Red checks his Bronze emerald and it, too, was drained to dark gray. "I guess we're running." They dash forth, avoiding the sight of the guards, until they eventually reached area E-3. There are far more buildings than they expected. "There's no way we can check them all out in a single night." BOOM! BOOM! Suddenly two building explode. Shadow and Red take cover in an alley between two large buildings. In the clear night sky, flew small images of people firing rockets at the buildings. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! It would only be a matter of time before they made it close to Shadow and Red's hiding spot.

"It's kill or be killed, Red." Shadow leaps from his hiding spot and looks in the direction of the floating assailants. The buildings were the only light source so he couldn't make out their images; he was sure of one thing; they're flying on hover bikes. A few rockets fire at Shadow who dodges them easily because they're fired from so far. The figures then all swarm down at once. Shadow tenses up and dodges each one barely. He now knew who they were, the bandits that attacked them on their first arrival to Korubia. Coming near shadow, the cloaked figures drew their scimitars and hacked a the black hedgehog as they passed. Shadow barely dodges each slash.

"Chaos Shine!" shouts Red from his spot as he thrusts an overly bright energy ball into the air and explodes it. The explosion is surprisingly mute but illuminated the area enough to blind the assailants and give Red an idea of who their attackers were. Red quickly runs behind Shadow so now they're back to back. BOOM! A nearby building explodes. "Damn, there's still one more with an RPG launcher. I doubt we'll reach him from here." The bandits surrounds them and enclose them in a circle.

"I don't supposed you'll tell us what you're doing here." said Shadow with a glare. None of the bandits replied. Instead, they all draw their scimitars.

"_I guess there's one way out of this." _Red places his hands on the ground and freezes the ground around them. Before the two are struck, a pillar of ice rises and protects the two while at the same time, encasing all the bandits in deeply frozen ice. The lone bandit in the air destroys one last building before discarding the rocket launcher and landing near the ice pillar.

"Hiding in ice? What a joke! Haaa!" Whrrrrrl! Fire and energy gather in the figure's right hand until the hand is completely engulfed in a swirl of white and orange energy. "NOVA BEAM!! HAA!!" The figures unleashes an enormous orange and white beam that easily obliterates the ice pillar and goes extremely far while leaving a boiling flaming crater in its wake. The flames in the crater are enough to create a dim light in the area "DOWN WITH THE EE!!"

"So that's what this is about…" said Shadow from behind the bandit. The bandit turns around and faces the two hedgehogs with a low grunt. He is a red desert fox with dark brown eyes seen commonly in these parts. Behind them is a hole in the ground that Shadow and Red apparently came from. When Red encased himself and Shadow beneath the ice, he told Shadow that the lone bandit would most likely fire rockets at the pillar so the only way to escape was to dig underground.

"You got the wrong guys if you're after the empire." said Red. "Seeing that you wiped out your comrades, I'm guessing you're after anyone you suspect to be in league with the empire."

"Red Hedgehog…Shadow Hedgehog…heheheheheheh." the fox chuckles evilly. He takes out a device that fits onto his ear and a glass piece extends from it. It reads 0 when he aims it at Shadow and then at Red. "Heh, it seems you're both drained of chaos energy…" He puts away that device and takes out another similar device and scans the two hedgehogs. "Yet your elemental energy is still intact! There's no doubt about it, the staff is somewhere in this area. Why else would you two be here? You're trying to obtain the power!"

"Being that you know our names, there's no need for introductions. What do you want?"

"I'm here to destroy the EE and at the same time, retrieve the staff of Z-" The bandit's ears perk up. "Heheheh! I wasted enough time. I need you two to DIE!" Flames swirl around the two hedgehogs making them both leap back. Taking advantage of their slight distraction, the bandit rushes at Red his palms the blue hedgehog in the weakest part of his stomachs then follows up by kicking him in the exact spot of hits first hit, doubling the pain and sending Red reeling across the ground until he lands face-down. Shadow leaps at the fox and delivers a fatal chop to his neck but the fox disappears into flames and reappears behind Shadow. "EXPLODING PALM!" Whack! Before the fox could delivering a seemingly killer blow to Shadow's head, a water tentacle grabs his wrists and stops him. Red is weakly standing while his arm is a water tentacle. The fox looks Red with a glare.

"That…was cheap!"

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow cries as a yellow spear-shaped energy blast leaps out of Shadow's hand and tears into the fox's stomach; he only just vanishes into flames.

"Looks like my time's up." said the bandit reappearing near the flame crater. "I guess it was rude of me to have my clone do all the fighting and to just surprise attack like that. I promise I won't do it again…heheheheh!" He then vanishes into flames. Red collapses to the ground while panting.

"Thank you, Red. He would've taken my head off if it weren't for you."

"Yes…foxes…are good with…attacking at the most…weakest points…they're good at delivering fatal blows…"

"We can't possibly continue. Let's head back."

"I don't suppose you two have something to do with this?" said a deep, low voice from behind them. Shadow looks up. "You're V-" POW! A might blow is dealt to the center of Shadow's face, instantly knocking him unconscious.


	42. Vell's Attack

Chapter 42: Vell's Attack

9:30AM The next day.

Shadow slowly opens his eyes. He's now in a room with a small lamp and two prison beds. The door is made of metal and has a small window but despite that, it's clearly obvious that it's securely locked.

"You have any idea where we are?" asked Red. "I passed out right after I spoke to you."

"Apparently, prison." Shadow mumbles. Red chuckles slightly.

"No need to be a smart-ass. I meant how did we get here?"

"Hmm…" Shadow goes into a deep thought. It all seemed to be a blur to him but he did remember seeing a pair of green eyes. "It was that bear named Vell. The one that was with that groundhog."

"Then we're in serious trouble now."

"If they're really influenced by Dr. Eggman then maybe so. However, I refuse to go down without a fight."

"Likewise." Clang! The door opens and the two hedgehogs stand up defensively. Vell enters and looks down at the two hedgehogs with a glare.

"Your boldness to die without a fight means **NOTHING** without the actual power and intelligence to stand behind it." says Vell with a very dark, heavy tone in his voice. " Put it to the test!" He raises his arms up and all 3 of them vanished in a warp of space.

Meanwhile, at the fight pits. Cammy has assembled her team to get ready for the fight pits but she noticed that Shadow and Red aren't present.

"Bah, laziness!" she growls and begins knocking on the door to both hedgehogs. "Hey, it's time to get up!" She uses her master key to open both doors and to her horror, they're not there. _"Oh no! Not here too!" _Her expression instantly changes back to normal when she faces the team again. "Let's go!" Sonic and Flare look at each other with concern.

Before Red and Shadow knew it, they were standing in the middle of a hot desert, behind them stood a large canyon. Vell rushes at Red with his claws extended.

"SONIC SLASH!!" shouts Red. A vicious black whirlwind forms around Red's hand and the blue hedgehog throws it in the direction of Vell. Whirl! Suddenly Shadow appears in the direction of Red's attack.

"Grr!" Shadow grunts as he rolls out of the way of his attack. The attack hits a cactus and tears it completely in half and uproots it at the same time. Red quickly blocks Vell's, who appeared next to him, slash and struggles with grizzly bear.

"That didn't seem like an ordinary teleport!"

"Don't worry about it." mumbles Vell. Both are trying to overpower the other.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadows shouts. Vell quickly looks back and suddenly, he and Red switch places.

"Ugh!" cries Red who is pierced with many spears at once. Vell then overpowers Red and slams the blue hedgehog's head directly into the ground. Shadow tenses up and skates at Vell as fast as he could. He then jumps and drop kicks Vell but the black bear grabs Shadow's leg. Shadow immediately kicks with his free leg but Red suddenly appears in that spot and gets hit. "Argh!"

"_How is he doing that?" _Vell warps behind Shadow and grabs the black hedgehog by his legs. "Chaos Control!" In an instant, Shadow stops time. He releases himself from Vell's grip and chops Vell across his face only for Red to appear and take the hit. "…!?" Time returns to normal and Vell looks sternly at Shadow.

"You can't beat me with Chaos Control. SONIC SLASH!!" shouts Vell as a vicious black whirlwind envelops his claws. He slashes towards Shadow who easily evades the attack but then SLISH! the attack appears right above Shadow and slashes him greatly on the back and cutting off some of his quills.

"Arrrgh! Oof!" Shadow lands face-first on the ground. _"Chaos Control can render an opponent helpless. How did he still manage to overcome it and switch places with Red?"_

"I understand now…" said Red, standing up. He wipes the blood from his mouth and grins. Vell looks at him intently. "You're one of the rare wind elements that can bend space aren't you?" Vell almost grins but doesn't fully acknowledge Red's response. Red knows he is correct and starts to think of a strategy. Shadow is also trying to think of a strategy.

"_Warp space? That's it. Space is not necessarily affected by time so even when time is stopped, he can still bend space."_

"_Judging by the way he fights, he's purely power and terrible at speed. Just like me. However, he makes up for speed by moving through space at will and switching places with multiple opponents."_

"_Not only can switch places with people but he warped his attack too. That space warping ability can give him a defensive advantage while he delivers a powerful offense."_

"_So, he has his offense and defense covered but there's got to be some weakness in his strategy."_

"Wind Saber!" cries Vell. He holds his right hand up and a gray wind current takes a curbed sword shape. "Knowing what I'm going to do is one thing but stopping it is another."

"You're right. Ice Quill Shield!" Red gets on all fours and his quills rapidly freeze themselves until his body is completely engulfed in a large spiky ball. Not letting that stop him, Vell charges at Red then slashes at the spiky ball with his saber hand. Surprisingly, it was a larger slash than expected and shatters the spike ball to pieces.

"Red!" cries Shadow. Vell looks at the ice pieces in disbelief and the wind saber disperses. Shadow launches a chaos spear at Vell and manages to catch him in the back off guard.

"Ugh!" cries Vell. He turns around only to receive a nasty right hook and a roundhouse kick to the face from Shadow. Vell stumbles and falls flat on his bottom. "Wait-"

"I've got nothing to say to you!" Shadow activates the rockets under his shoes and launches at Vell with incredible speed. POW!POW!POW!POW! Shadow attacks Vell with a barrage of punches hitting him directly in his stomach. He uppercuts Vell into the air, spins and kicks him back down to earth with the heel of his shoes. Boom! When Vell lands a cloud of dust is kicked up. Shadow lands in the dust clouds and more pounding is her until you see Vell launch from the dust cloud and into the depths of the canyon.

"Aaah!"

The dust cloud fades away and Shadow deactivate the rockets on his shoes and folds his arms. He walks over to the pieces where Red once stood.

"I didn't think you'd have to sacrifice yourself for us to win…" To Shadow's amazement, the ice pieces began to reform until they took Red's shape. "…"

"I didn't sacrifice myself." said Red with a grin. "I took a lucky guess."

"A lucky guess?"

"I figured that he had a well thought out plan for offense and defense. His defense was solid since when we both attacked, he'd just switch places with one of us. He offense was solid because if an attacked missed, he can just manipulate space and make the attack appear wherever he wanted."

"My hits landed after you shattered, how was that?"

"I juggled with a few theories: he can warp space only within a certain range, he can only warp living objects, he can only warp a few object and such to name a few. I knew there had to be some limitation to his ability so I began to think of what he lacks. Was it speed? Intellect? Or something else? After he said that doing something about his attack was another thing I decided defense was more better to study him with than offense. So I turned myself to ice and let him shatter me. What surprised me was the look on his face, he look as if I had saw right through him when really I didn't have a clue until you attacked him. That's when it hit me: he can only warp space when there's two living objects other than himself. Most of his techniques are for multiple combat fighting."

"You've almost hit the mark." said Vell who is standing behind them. They both turn defensively. "Relax, I'm not your enemy." He warps them back into the cell room they were in. "I can warp so long as I keep my cool. My ability is triggered through emotion alone."

"What made you lose your cool?"

"You. You shattered and I thought either I killed you or you vanished in thin air. It threw off my concentration then Shadow took advantage. I planned on telling him then that I was not against you both. Didn't give me a chance to speak."

"Why did you capture us then?" Shadow asked, suspicious. Vell glare a Shadow for a brief moment then leans against the wall.

"You're both lucky I found you first. The soldiers general Mulaza sent out were told to kill anyone found on site." Red looks at Vell in surprise. Shadow grunts. "Colonel Sezero told me to investigate ahead and capture anyone that didn't look like a bandit. I was told to test them to see if they can help with our problem."

"What problem would that be that your military can't handle themselves?" asked Red.

"Heh heh, funny you should mention that." said Sezero entering the room. "How far did you take them for the test?"

"To Yuhilara Canyon, sir." said Vell.

"Good, no enemies reside in that area. Come with me, I have a bit of a request to make."

"A request?" asked Shadow. "And if we refuse?" Sezero smiles.

"Well, you wouldn't. For many reasons. I'm not one to focus on the negative so I'll give you the positives: I can't help you get what you need, I can get information spread quickly, and I can look out for you in many ways."

"_I can see how this can work to our advantage and disadvantage." _Red thinks to himself. "We're in."

"Great, I knew you fellow rebels wouldn't let me down." Red and Shadow follow Sezero while giving each other a knowing glance.


	43. Sezero’s Request

Chapter 43: Sezero's Request: The Legend of Shadow and Soul

Shadow and Red follow Sezero until they reach his private quarters on the base. The office is fairly simple with a small window.

"A climate of evil is descending upon us." said Sezero looking out the window. "Can you feel it?"

"Judging how Dr. Eggman is running things in this country, I'd say it has long descended." said Shadow. Sezero looks at Shadow sternly.

"You're very wrong, my friend. There are things being planned that are bigger than the Eggman Empire itself…should those plans succeed, that is."

"Such as…?" asked Red.

"I don't have time to reveal them all. Mind you, Eggman is still a mere human, he cannot possibly hope to understand our kind of power even with the mind control units he has."

"I agree."

"My request is that we deal with the conspiracy here in Korubia, naturally. It is the first uprising of the few that are about to form."

"If the uprisings are from rebels, wouldn't it be good?" Shadow asked.

"As I've stated, things are planned that are bigger than that. I'll tell you part of a legend before I begin: Thousands of years ago, there was a huge battle in Korubia. It was a battle between the two arcane elements Soul and Shadow. The leaders were Zeravi Garadomin leading the army of Soul, and Zarula Jacarak, leading the army of Shadow. The war ended with the extinction of both elements and only Zeravi and Zarula remained locked in combat, one unable to defeat the other. It is believed that their power was creating unbalance in the world and the gods turned the two into deities while sealing them into staves. The staves each were then given to certain individuals who are pledged not to use their power unless it is figured out how one being can destroy the other. It is also decreed that the staffs will annually gift a random newborn resident of Korubiathe ability of Shadow and Soul to the ones capable of fulfilling the respective staff's destiny. Once one staff is destroyed, the other will bring forth its Age of Destiny. The gods left the decision to the people, believing they will make the right choice. Since no one knows what the right choice is, it was decided that the staffs should be left alone and forgotten in legend… It was kept that way and hidden for thousands of years, the story only etched into the memories of the ones chosen by the staffs but…"

"Something happened recently?"

"10 years ago…" Shadow and Red listen attentively. "The seals inside the pyramids broke when Dr. Eggman attacked our state… The staves were released, I received the staff of Zeravi but left it in General Mulaza's possession for safekeeping. I doubt a human could've known how to break the seal or even have known of the legend. There is a spell set on those who know it to erase the legend from their mind temporarily when they leave Korubia so I believe there is a traitor amongst us and I have an idea who."

"You want us to confirm the traitor for you because you suspect they're onto you and with your position, it's difficult to get any investigations done."

"You catch on quick. I believe you're the one they call Red, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Perfect, you will help me because I have some info helpful for you specifically." Red stands in thought for a moment. He hands them their MWs which they hadn't noticed were gone when they were captured. "I've indicated the location of the suspect on these. I trust you recognize these devices, Red?"

"I do, they're my creations…"

"I thought as much, once you help me out, I'll tell you a bit about these." Vell enters the room and suddenly warps the two hedgehogs.

"Can we really trust them, sir?" the tall black bear asks.

"Heh, their group was too much even for Dr. Eggman. They're perfect for this, have faith. They'll also be receiving a lot of protection to make sure things go as planned."

Shadow and Red appear in the dugout of the arena. They are quickly greeted by Flare and CK since Sonic is in the middle of a fight.

"Hey man, where ya'll been!?" CK asked happily.

"Flare, the plan is in motion." Flare gives an acknowledging nod. Cammy, who notices the two a bit late after their arrival walks over to them and checks their MWs. Her expression is a mixture of shock, fear, and realization all at once for a brief moment.

"When it comes down to it, it does make a bit of sense. The real question would be why and for what motive…?" The young coach mumbles to herself.

"You know something about this?" asked Shadow.

"AND THE WINNER BY KNOCKOUT IS SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!!!" cries the announcer, sending the crowd into a roaring frenzy.

"Don't worry about it. Sit your asses down. _Still, it's a relief that they're safe._" says Cammy with a sigh of relief.


	44. Ambushed Again

Chapter 44: Ambushed Again

Later that night, 11:55 PM.

Shadow and Red once again sneak out into the night after updating everyone on the situation. Both are dashing quietly through the nighttime streets, oblivious of two other figures shadowing them.

"Red, what did he mean by these watches are your creation?" Shadow asked.

"They are my creations, the company name on them has been changed. I must find out why…" said Red grimly. "Is D-1 the location indicated on yours?"

"Yes."

"Good, that's where we're headed. Play our cards right and we'll be out of Korubia in no time." Their watches lead them to area D-1. The Grand Dome's entrance.

"Looks like a place where important people reside."

"You right, but we ain't letting ya'll go in there." said someone from behind them. Suddenly Shadow and Red are grasped in a headlock. "You grunts gonna tell us about your bandit friends or do we have to break yo necks!?"

"Chaos Control!" Shadow stops time, releases himself from the grip and kicks his assailant back while Red morphs into water to escape his.

"Better idea..." Red growls. "You tell US who you are!" The area is so dark, neither hedgehog can make out the faces of their attackers but by their eyes faintly glowing in the dark they are aware their opponents are some kind of feline, both with a pair of glowing purple eyes.

"Doesn't matter when you're dead!" hisses one of them.

"Hold on, D." said the other feline. "We can rough 'em up but don't kill 'em. We need them for info."

"I'll try not to! Boulder Storm!" The ground shakes and large rocks begin levitating around the two felines.

"Guess we're in for a fight." mumbles Shadow. The boulders launch at the two hedgehogs. Dodging the attack, Red launches icicle shots while Shadow uses his Chaos Spears to counter the attack. Meanwhile, on the balcony of the Grand Dome, Mia and the Mayor step out and look at the clear sky.

"No moon again…" says Mia with a sigh.

"It will come, just be patient. I know we've waited almost our whole lives for this."

"I know…I can wait."

"How goes the energy gathering?"

"I tried that method you suggested; it worked! Not only can I make shadow copies of the original fighters but I can now absorb their energy and copy their strengths and abilities, all without killing the vessel." The mayor smiles.

"All is good then. I'm sure the new moon will come before that meddlesome Mulaza returns. He'll be dealt with soon enough."

"What about the Sezero and Mitzy?"

"You need not worry about them. Once we're a part of Zarula's awakening, nothing else will matter. Sezero has little to no idea what our plans are and Mitzy can't do a thing without consent of the people, let alone me. Zarula will bring forth the Age of Shadow and wipe out all opposition along with Dr. Eggman himself." The two then notices a scuffle occurring in the distance. "Hm? Mia, check that out please."

"Yes, father." Mia hovers down from the balcony and into the direction of the fight. Back at the battle, Red attempts a right hook but is blocked and countered with a kick which he quickly defends against. Shadow is knocked back but doesn't stumble over. Both sides are panting from exhaustion.

"Red…I can't keep this up. I've used it too many times." said Shadow.

"One more time, and this time should be the last!" exclaims Red.

"Hmph. Chaos Control!" Shadow stops time as the two sides rush at each other and to his surprise he sees Mia standing in the middle. His hold on time is very short since during the fight he's used Chaos Control a lot.

"Sand Bomb!" shouts Mia while clasping her palms together. A dome of sand quickly incases her and explodes, sending both sides reeling back. "Now, someone tell me what the hell is going on!" Mia raises her hand up and creates an energy ball to light up the area. Red and Shadow look at their opponents. One is Vicious, the cat who escorted CK to Korubia while the other cat looks very similar to him but his eyes looks as if he hates all he sees as opposed to Vicious' eyes who are very serious but calm. Vicious stands at 5'3 while the other cat is only an inch shorter.

"This be the Empire's business, move the hell out the way!" Vicious warns.

"The Empire? What are they doing here? I told them we can handle our own problems, why are they sending more troops here?"

"Shut up! We're the ones in charge around here." growls the other cat.

"D, hush! She's the daughter of the mayor; one of the branches of the Empire." Vicious turns his attention back to Mia. "We didn't mean to cause any disturbance. We were trying to find out what these two-" He indicates Shadow and Red. "-were up to." Mia looks over to Shadow and Red and gives them a welcoming smile."

"Oh! Arena fighters!" Mia shouts happily. "There's nothing wrong with arena fighters traveling around every once in a while! However, it is late so you must return to your quarters. No one wants to see a sleepy fighter!" Mia raises her free hand towards them and a white aura engulfs Red and Shadow and they disappear. "Get some rest! As for you two cats, I'll update your mission tomorrow. Scoot on back to wherever you guys were staying. We can handle our own affairs." D is about to protest but Vicious stops him.

"Understood, ma'am." says Vicious. With that he dashes off, D following a second after.

"Somehow I can't help but think you have something to do with this, Mr Smiley." Mia says annoyed. Zzzt! Boom! It seems like no one is in the area but suddenly electricity appear and strikes down next Mia, materializing Razine.

"Oh really?" says the yellow fox with a chuckle and a smile that never seems to fade. And why would you think that, my dear?"

"You stood there watching the fight the whole time and didn't bother stepping in. This is a very important building you know?"

"Well, what do you have guards for then?"

"The guards are inside."

"Then I believe protecting the building is not my problem. Ho ho ho! Now that we're done talking about me, I wonder why are you outside? Shouldn't a lady like you get her beauty rest? It's awfully late and a mayor's aide must look her best!"

"I couldn't sleep with the ruckus."

"Oh, well it's settled now! Go on, don't be so suspicious of everything, relax! Get you some rest." Razine gives her a big smile before disappearing in a bolt of electricity." Mia stands confounded before entering the building. Ghost and Ice materialize once she enters.

"Damn, almost thought our job would be done for us." said Ghost.

"Tomorrow." said Ice. The two then disappear again.

"Razine again?" asked the mayor who was waiting at the door.

"Yes, he's an odd one."

"Indeed but no threat to us…I hope."


	45. Knuckles Soul Awakened

Chapter 45: Knuckles Soul Awakened!

Red and Shadow found themselves back in area B1 but not in front of their own building. Mia had teleported them back to the fighter suites but not necessarily to their correct building. However, both hedgehogs find their way a few minutes later.

"I'm starting to think nighttime around here is pretty dangerous." says Shadow. "We should try in the daytime to seem less suspicious." Red gives a nod of acknowledgement before the two head into their separate rooms.

(10:30AM, the next day at the Fight Dome)

As the team enters the arena, Cammy immediately spots Mia at the arena side.

"_Must be a special match…" _the coach thinks to herself.

"ATTENTION LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THIS MORNING WE KICK OFF THE FIGHTS TO A FIRST MATCH SPECIAL MATCH!" shouts the announcer. To no surprise she was right.

"I wonder who they found this time…" She sighs. Sonic is asked to report to the ring.

"Alright! Let's get started!" shouts the blue hedgehog gleefully as he dashes to the stage.

"…!" The challengers walk in from the other side. It's Ghost and Ice.

"Whoa…" The crowd hushes down a bit at the shock of seeing the two cybernetic fighters.

"Heh, guess I'm up!" exclaims Ghost as he dashes onto the arena. He looks confidently at Sonic. _"Is this the chump we supposed to take on, Ice?" _Inside Ice's head, there are many photos switching around. Both are communicating through a link in their heads. A drop window opens to the previous date and shows a picture of a blue hedgehog from behind. The picture is a bit blurry however. The inner screen does its best to clear the picture but to no avail.

"_The image isn't clear. I'll send the copy to you." _Upon receiving the picture, he looks at Sonic once again and tries to match the pictures.

"_Ehh, I can't seem to match them either. He didn't give us a name so I guess we'll just have to kill every blue hedgehog we see and hope it's the right one."_

"_No ruckus."_

"_I know, I know! We're just here to demonstrate anyway."_

"_Finish it quickly." _GONG! The starting bell rings and Sonic steps back. Ghost rushes to Sonic and takes a slash at him only to hit nothing. Sonic is already behind him. "That speed isn't natural is it?"

"Well for me it is." Sonic replies.

"That makes sense." Ghost says while constantly swiping at the blue hedgehog. Sonic just keep reappearing in different spots. "You're THE Sonic then?"

"The one and only." Sonic smiles. Ghost stops his barrages. "Oh c'mon! You can still hit me if you move faster."

"_Ice, he has to be the one! He's Sonic the Hedgehog! Everyone knows Eggman hates Sonic!"_

"_That isn't a solid reason. This mission may not be what it appears to be."_

"_Bah, you're always so analytical. _Alright, you're a special case so I'll move faster just for you." Ghost closes his eyes and focuses for a moment. A blue aura slowly begins to form around him. Suddenly, he reappears before Sonic and kicks him but instantly Sonic appears behind him. Ghost redirects his kick back but still misses the blue hedgehog.

"Gotta be faster than that!" yells Sonic. "My turn now!" Sonic dashes at the cybernetic wolf but he blocks. Woosh! Kst! Whoosh! Kst! Both combatants are moving so fast around the arena but can only see when one stops to block the other's attack. Suddenly, the two manage to connect a punch to each other's face. Sonic is sent spiraling backwards due to getting hit by Ghost's mechanical arm while Ghost slides backwards, almost falling back.

"Wow, they match each other in speed." Flare comments.

"No, Ghost's speed is temporary." Red explains. "He's using a Speed Aura, or Speed Potential as some call it. His speed is pushed to the maximum but his body loses defensive power so hits will hurt a lot more than they should."

"Whoa, really? Can you teach me that?"

"Maybe, to use auras, you have to understand how Chaos Energy works with your body since that energy is what's used to activate them. The Speed Aura decreases with time so he can't keep that up."

"Hmm…"

"Huh, didn't mean to KO you in one hit. I guess I have power over you." say Ghost as he approaches the blue hedgehog. Sonic secretly has his eyes on Ghost while faking his unconsciousness. The wolf appears instantly in front of Sonic but…Whoosh! BAM! Sonic kicks him up in the air with a break-dance move known as the windmill. He then leaps up into the air to meet with Ghost and drop kicks him so hard into the ground that it creates a crater. BOOM! "UUURRGGHH!"

"Alright, another falls for the Sonic Finish!"

"Sonic Finish?" Red asks Flare.

"You haven't been here much to see Sonic's matches but he does that breakdown thing then kicks his opponent to the ground, usually winning the match! He calls it the Sonic Finish!"

"Huh… _with his opponent using the speed aura, the damage is nearly doubled._"

"You've just experience my Sonic Finish! Sorry man, better luck next time." Sonic says with a smirk.

"_You deserved that." _Ice comments.

"Sonic Finish?" Ghost asks as his aura disappears. "You're gonna have to change the name of that."

"I shoulda guessed a metalhead like you woulda easily taken a hit like that." Sonic says with a chuckle. Ghost stands up slowly. _"Gimme a break, I was hoping that would finish it. Well, more fun for me!"_

"_Damn, my visuals are a bit slow."_

"_His speed is better." _Ice tells him.

"_Yeah, I'll have to finish this a different way then." _He extends his claws and slashes in the direction of Sonic's legs.

"Alright, here we go!" says Sonic with a grin. He tries to run but his legs are frozen. "What!?"

"That was Ice Claw!" exclaims Red. Ghost smirks and dashes to Sonic with a look of murder in his eyes. Sonic grunts in frustration as he tries to free himself. Blub! As the cyber wolf slashes Sonic, a sphere of water surrounds the blue hedgehog's body, stopping the blow completely.

"The hell!?" Ghost yells in frustration. He glares over to the ringside to see Red with both of his palms out towards Sonic. "…! _General, take a look at this. It's another hedgehog."_

"_You haven't seen him because you were busy fighting." _Ice replies.

"_Which one are we supposed to kill? Or do we kill every blue hedgehog we see?"_

"_The latter is best assumed. Hurry up."_

"_Roger that. _Huh?" Sonic is no longer stuck in place and is gone. BAM! Ghost receives the heel of Sonic's foot to the top of his metal head. "Uurgh!" Zzzt! The dome cracks and electricity sparks from the damage. Ghost can only see static. "Damn!" Once his visuals are clear Sonic delivers a swift kick to Ghosts face, knocking him to the ground. As Ghost lands, he has an annoyed look on his face. "OK! I'm ghosting!" He vanishes from view which shocks everyone but Ice.

"That's…not a possible technique…!" says Red. "What is this guy…?" Sonic doesn't drops his guard. He leaps to the center of the arena and glances around carefully. BAM!

"Ugh!" Sonic groans as he is knocked square in his face and sent sliding across the arena. He quickly stands back up only to be swept off his feet then have his head knocked into the ground. His body is then picked up and flung high into the air. Sonic helplessly falls head first towards the ground but a bubble appears and gives him a soft landing.

"Heh, that's pretty cheap to help out!" Ghost growls.

"It's allowed in a special match. Maybe you should read rules more often." Red retorts. "I'd say turning invisible upstages my helping by a long shot."

"_He is one dead hedgehog once I finish!" _BAM! BAM! BAM! Sonic's stomach is repeatedly bashed in hard. Sonic is tries his hardest to catch his breathe but isn't allowed to.

"_Damn, I guess he got it…" _says Sonic to himself before succumbing to unconsciousness.

"_Heh, you're so stubborn!" _Sonic hears Knuckles say. A transparent Knuckles appears over Sonic. _"You really rather get beaten to a pulp than to ask for my help?"_

"_I'd like to see you do better!"_

"_Thought you'd never ask!" _Knuckles jumps into Sonic's body. WHOOSH! Instantly Sonic's teeth gets sharper and long dreads form from his head. He quickly blocks an unforeseen hit and pushes back. He stands up and opens his eyes, which are now purple. "HYAAAA!" BOOOOM! He smashes the ground with his now spiked fist and shatters he arena completely, sending debris everywhere but still contained within the barriers. The force creates a shockwave so strong that the wind of it knocks down all at the arena's sides.

"What the hell was that!?" Flare asked.

"…" The arena falls silent.

"_What's this?" _Red ponders. _"It looks like he transformed but his body is still the same color." _Ghost, now visible, slowly climbs out from the rubble.

"_What happened?" _Ice asks.

"_I don't know! I know I was close to killing him then suddenly he pulls this off! My cloak is damaged thanks to that shockwave!"_ says Ghost in shock.

"Knuckles Soul awakened!" says Knuckles with a grin. "Looks like **I'm** the one that has power over you!" Ghost growls angrily at the now transformed hedgehog.


End file.
